









*£l 



















gass BS Hl i 



Book M^ 



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GPO 



GRACE AND TRUTH, 

OR, THE / ^^y > 

GLORY AND FULNESS 

OF 

THE REDEEMER DISPLAYED 

IN AN ATTEMPT 

TO EXPLAIN, ILLUSTRATE, AND ENFORCE^ 

THE MOST 

REMARKABLE TYPES, 

FIGURES, AND ALIjaf50g£i^?J>>. 



OF 




»-JL. 



THE OLD TJ^STAMEWT 

TO WHICH 1» ABBID, 

THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 



BY WILLIAM M^EWEN, 
Minister of the Gospel at DcimEE. 



PhitadelpJda : 
Published by W. W. Woodward, 
ro. 52, Soutk-West Comer of Chesnut aTid Second ^ '^ 






x%l 



RECOMMENDATIONS, 

Grace and Truth, or the Glory and fuhiess of the Re- 
deeraer Displayed, by the late Rev, Mr. William M*E\ven, 
is a production that needs no recommendation. The happy 
and evangelical turn of the thought of tlie autlior, the per- 
spicuity and animation of his style, and the body of use- 
ful matter comprised in a few pages, have given a popu- 
larity to the work, which, it is probable, it will never lose. 
J rejoice tliat a new edition is in contemplation. 

February 5th, 1818, War. Staughton. 



The work of Mr, M*Ew^n is so well known, and so 
highly esteemed, that it stands in no need of the recom- 
mendation of 

J. J. Janeway, 
February 6th, 1818. Ezra Stiles Elt, 

^£oaG£ C, Potts. 



We consider M'Ewen on the Types a useful work, and 
^re pleased to find that a new edition is about to be 
printed. 

William Neill, 
FeJbruar)^ 6th, 1818, W^illiam Ashtojt, 

David Parker, 
H. M'Cartjsje, 



PREFACE. 



'OOOO — 



THE candid reader, who shall be pleased to pe- 
ruse the following Essay, is desired to take notice, 
that as the discourse itself is not of the argumenta- 
tive kind, it is taken for granted, as a preliminary 
rnaxim, That the grand doctrines of Christianity 
concerning the mediation of Christ, and the inesti- 
mable blessings of his purchase, were typically mani- 
fested to the church, by a variety of ceremonies, 
persons, and events, under the Old Testament dis- 
pensation. It is true, there are some who affect to 
call this truth in question, and yet pretend to be the 
friends of a divine revelation ; but with what sinceri- 
ty, it is not difficult to perceive. For to suppose that 
the gospel is a new invention and hatched in the age 
of the apostles, or that the religion of Jews and 
Christians are entirely different, is signally injurious 
to them both: for as a living creature, when cut in 
two, will seem at first to preserve some faint re- 
mains of life in both its parts, but in a short time will 
totally expire ; so if the true religion is cut asunder, 
and the faith of Jews and Christians be wholly sever- 
ed and detached from one another, instead of having 
one religion of Jews, and another of Christians ; we 
shall in reality have no true religion at all surviving. 
But we do not propose so much as to enter on any 
dispute on this head, as the following treatise was 
not intended by the author, either for the conviction 
of Inhdels, or for the confutation of false opinions, 
but for the edification of them who have obtained 
precious faith. Such persons it will not be difficult to 
persuade, that in the law were exhibited the shadows 
of good things to come, but the body is of Christ.* 

* For the display and confii-mation of this argument, 
that the Gospel was emblematically preached, and Ciirist 

A ij 



^i PREFACE. 

To exhibit a compendious view of the persons, 
events, ordinances, and things, that the author ap- 
prehended were figurative of the Person and Media- 
tion of the Son of God, is the design of the first part 
of the following sheets. For though there are sonie 
books on this subject already published in our lan- 
guage, it must be owned, they are far from being ju- 
diciously executed. The looseness of their method, 
and inaccuracy of their style, are perhaps the true 
reasons they are so much neglected, and so little 
known. For the theme they treat of, if properly 
handled, might, one should think, recommend itself 
to a more universal pei-usal, than they have hitherto 
obtained. 

It cannot be refused, that the doctrinal system the 
author has chosen to follow in this small work, 
though once reputed orthodox in the Protestant 
churches, is now fallen into great contempt with 
many, who sustain themselves great judges of senti- 
ment and composition. But if this httle treatise is 
accepted with the saints, (if the wits will pardon the 
expression,) the censures of others need not excite 
either anxiety or surprise. For so long as the devil is 
suffered to deceive the nations, and so long as the 
heart is unconvinced of sin, we may assure ourselves 
the doctrine of complete justification and everlasting 
acceptance with God, by the righteousness of Im- 
manuel, freely imputed to wretched sinners, and of 
sanctification of lieart, and newness of life, through 
the power of the blessed Spirit, will meet with 
opposition. 

Some have conceived an invincible aversion to all 
allegories of every kind, on account of the ridiculous 
and distorted fancies, the false, mishappen glosses of 
Scripture, of which, it must be confessed, the humour 
of allegorizing, not properly restrained, has been ex- 
ceeding fertile. To hunt for allegories every where, 
and to labour at giving a mystical turn to these pas- 
sages of holy writ that are the most plain and literal, 

in a figure exhibited in these usages practised by the 
ancient Jews, I do, with great pleasure, refer to that ad- 
mirable and well known book; entitled Tlieron caidJlspasiOf 
J)ialo^iie 3. 



PREFACE. 



Vll 



indicates a vitiated taste, that nauseates wholesome 
food. Many of the ancient fathers have been guilty of 
this fault ; and especially Origen, a man of an extra- 
ordinary genius, has been not unjustly blamed on this 
account. Yea, some men have carried the humour of 
allegorizing to such an exorbitant pitch, as to rum- 
mage the heathen mythology itself for the sacred 
truths of religion, and allegorize even that most 
empty book, the Metamorphoses of Ovid. But 
though some have transgressed all bounds of sobriety 
in their mystic interpretations, we must not imme- 
diately discard all figurative senses of the Scripture, 
however discreetly investigated. For at this rate we 
behoved not only to condemn the infallible apostle of 
the Gentiles, but also Jesus Christ himself, who com- 
pares himself to the manna, to the brazen serpent, 
and to Jonah in the belly of the fish. 

In order to settle the proper hmits of allegorical 
interpretation, two things must be observeable, to 
which our author, in the course of this work, ap- 
pears to have stedfastly adhered. First, To make a 
proper divine allegory, type, or figure, it is necessa- 
rily required, that there 'be a resemblance, less or 
more, betwixt the literal history, person, or thing, 
and the spiritual doctrine, truth, or mystery, which 
is supposed to be represented. Secondly^ There must 
be some good reason to think, that this resemblance 
is not merely casual, or the child of fancy, but ac- 
tuvilly intended by the Holy Ghost. And where even 
both these requisites are found, due care should be 
taken not to strain the type or allegory beyond the 
bounds of a just and reasonable comparison, lest, 
instead of following the clue, we stretch it till it 
breaks. 

In this age of disputes, it must doubtless be a con- 
siderable recommendation of a performance, when 
the reader is informed, that while the author disco- 
vers the most zealous attachments to the cause of 
truth, and appears a devoted champion of the evan- 
gelical doctrines, he is careful not to lay a dispropor- 
tionate stress upon any thing by which one Christian 
may be distinguished from another. Professing Chris- 
tians agreed in many things ; agreed in laying Jesus 
Christ the one and only foundation of present holi- 



-yiii PREFACE. 

ness and future happiness, are not here taught or 
stirred up to bite and devour one another. No oil is 
here administered to increase the flame, or keep 
awake the conflagration of animosity and dispute, 
which have so long, and so sadly disturbed the peace, 
and hindered the union of the professed friends of 
the truth as it is in Jesus : nor are any problematical 
questions here determined with authoritative airs, 
that may be a new bone of contention in the church-. 
These are employments, whoever are engaged in 
them, and whatever be their motives and pretences, 
our author was far from approving. 

The conciseness, the propriety, the energy with 
which the several important and interesting subjects 
here taken into consideration are treated, will, 1 per- 
suade myself, both entertain and edify the intelligent 
reader, delight his taste, while his judgment is in- 
formed, his heart improved, and his practice di- 
rected. 

In order to remove these suspicions which often 
arise concerning the authenticity of posthumous 
works, I think it incumbent on me to acquaint the 
public, that the following sheets contain the sub- 
stance of what the author originally composed and 
delivered from the pulpit in the form of sermons. 
To contract the force and spirit of a subject into a 
small compass, and exhibit it to the mind in one 
clear and easy view, was a branch of study he was 
remarkably fond of. Therefore though his diligence 
and accuracy in preparing for his public appear- 
ances were rare and uncommon, he frequently em- 
ployed his leisure moments in digesting his sermons, 
after they had been preached, into the form of little 
essays. This method he pursued, with particular 
application and assiduity, with regard to the whole 
of these discourses he made on the types, figures, 
and allegories of the Old Testament. 

His design on this head being executed in the form 
and dress in which it now appears, he began to en- 
tertain serious thoughts of off'ering it to the public. 
This engaged him to review and examine the whole 
with a critical attention, and to make such altera- 
tions and improvements as appeared necessary, in 
the view of gratifying a further aim at public ser- 



PREFACE. l^ 

vice * Thus prepared and corrected, he was pleased, 
amidst the familiarities of our long and intimate 
friendship, to indulge me with the perusal of the 
manuscript. I read it with eagerness and delight. 
Such instructive, animating, and evangelical com- 
positions seemed to me finely calculated, under a 
divine blessing, to be productive of considerable 
good. I could not therefore forbear urging upon the 
author an immediate publication of so excellent a 
work. After farther consideration, and fresh ap- 
plication to the throne of grace, for that wisdom 
which is profitable to direct, he became resolved. 

In a short time, coming to Edinburgh on another 
account, he settled every thing with the gentlemen 
who are now the publishers, relative to the print- 
ing of it. The manuscript he left in my hands, ex- 
cept a few sheets that he proposed to carry home 
with him, and take under a repeated perusal. At 
Leith, on his way home, he was suddenly taken ill. 
His disorder soon issued in a most violent fever, 
which put an end to his life and labours, in the 
twenty-eighth year of his age, and seventh of his 
ministry. 

He was truly a most accomplished and amiable per- 
'son ; and if the Lord had been pleased to spare him, 
it is very likely he would have soon rose high in the 
public esteem, on account of his growing worth and 
abilities. But as my present business is only to sa- 
tisfy the public with regard to the progress the au- 
thor hinnself had made towards the publication of 
this work before his death, in order to ascertain the 
authenticity of it, and not to write an account of his 
life, or delineate his character, I must beg leave to 
refer the reader to that public description given of 

* In December 1758, Mr. M'Ewxn published an ordi- 
nation sermon, entitled. The great matter and end of gos- 
pel preaching, from 2 Cor. iv. 5. A general satisfaction 
was expressed by all who were present at the delivery of 
this sermon. And it has been much esteemed by many 
who have read it, not only on account of the evangelical 
strain of doctrine that runs through it, but also on ac- 
count of the clear, nervous, and pathetic manner of ad- 
dress. 



X PREFACE. 

him in a short paragraph, which appeared in the 
Edinburgh newspapers immediately after his death, 
and which may be seen at the bottom of the page.* 

The publication hath been delayed so long after 
his death, that it may perhaps seem necessary to 
make some apology for that delay. But it would be 
tedious to enumerate a variety of circumstances 
which have concurred to occasion it. 

It is now requisite to give some account of these 
papers that compose the last part of this volume, 
intitled. Thoughts on various Subjects. Here justice 
to the author requires it to be publicly owned, that 
he never manifested his intention of publishing these 
compositions, so far as I know, or have heard. They 
had been composed in the way related above, and 
have been selected, from among a multiplicity of 
other papers, which were found in his study after 
his death. They were all fairly transcribed from 
the short-hand copy by his own hand. The atten- 

♦ At Leith died of a sudden illness, on the 13th Jan. 
1762, the Rev. Mr. William M'Ewen, minister of the 
gospel at Dundee. A good genius, a clear head, a lively 
fancy, cultivated by a liberal education, improven by close 
study, and enlarged by an early acquaintance with real 
and vital religion, laid the foundation of that amiable, im- 
portant, and useful character he maintained throughout 
the whole course of his ministry. Courteous and conde- 
scending, meek and humble in his own eyes, far from af- 
fecting human applause, he aimed at an object infinitely 
more noble, the honour that cometh from God alone, 
which made him both faithful and diligent in his holy vo- 
cation. Conciseness of method, and perspicuity of style, 
added to solidity of judgment, rendered his preaching 
equally instructive to the wise, and intelligible to the 
ignorant. Warm with zeal for God, and compassion for 
men, his constant endeavour was, to display the amiable 
excellencies of the incarnate Redeemer to the needy souls 
of perishing sinners. Not neglecting in his own conduct 
what he recommended to the practice of others, his life 
was a fair and beautiful transcript of his doctrine. Cut 
down in the prime of life and public usefulness, his death 
is universally lamented as a severe and affl icting loss to 
his friends, his congregation, the church of God. 



PREFACE* Xi 

tlvc reader will clearly discern in every one of them, 
lively traces of the style and spirit of the former 
work. They undoubtedly appear under considera- 
ble disadvantages for want of the author's finishing 
hand : yet still the reader will find in them such an 
agreeeble and striking representation of true Chris- 
tianity, in a variety of its most important articles, 
and most distinguishing peculiarities, as gives ground 
to expect, that they may contribute to promote the 
cause of vital religion. I conclude, with assuring the 
public, that no one sentiment of the author, through- 
out the whole performance, has been either changed 
or suppressed. 

May the God of all grace follow the piece with 
his special blessing, give it an extensive spread, and 
make it subservient to the glorious cause of evan- 
gelical truth, real holiness, and christian charity> 

JOHN PATISON, 

Bristol, Sefit. 26, 1763, 



li 



GRACE AND TRUTH, S^c. 

BOOK r. 

TYPICAL PERSONS. 

I. Christ and Adam Compahed. 

The almighty Creator had now finished the uni- 
versal frame of nature. He saw the heavens shining 
in all their glory, he beheld the earth smiling in all 
her beauty : the sea was stocked with fish, the air 
with fowls, the field with beasts. But still the master- 
piece of this inferior world was wanting, a creature 
endued with reason, of upright stature, and qualified 
at once to rule over the rest of the creation, and cor- 
respond with his Creator. " And the Lord God 
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a 
living soul."— Gm. ii. 7. Thus far we are told bv the 
Hebrew lawgiver. And we are further informed by 
the great apostle of the Gentiles, that this first man. 
whose name was Adam, was the tvpe or figure of 
" him that was to come."— i?o7w. v." 14. For aught 
we know, it might not so much as enter into the hearts 
of Adam to conceive of this divine mystery ; and Mo- 
ses himself, the inspired penman of that truly an- 
cient and authentic history, might not perhaps advert 
to it. But since God hath revealed it to us by his 
Spirit, let us attend where the resemblance lies, of 
the first to the second Adam ; which we shall obvi- 
ously find, whether we view him as the first man, 
the first father, the first lord, the first husband, or 
the first covenant-head. And let us learn to contem- 
plate the glory of that illustrious person who was so 
early typified, while we admire the depth of God's 
fore-knowledge, in ordering matters so, that the 
history of the first man, who was of the earth and 
earthly, was a prophecy of the second man, who is 
the Lord from heaven. 

B 



14 TYPICAt PERSONS. Book I. 

To begin with the creation of our general ancestor. 
— Adam was the first man in the world of nature, 
who being formed out of the dust of the ground, by 
the immediate hand of his Creator, was without fa- 
ther, and without mother, and, in a sense peculiar to 
himself, is called '* the Son of God." — Luke iii. ult. 
He was also a creature perfectly new, to whom there 
was nothing like, and nothing equal, among all the 
visible works of God ; for his person, consisting of a 
visible body, and an invisible soul, was made after the 
image, and in the likeness of God, which chiefly con- 
sists in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Now, 
sure it is not difficult to perceive, that all these cha- 
racters exactly agree to the second man, who is the 
lirst-born among many brethren in the world of 
grace, — without father as man, — without mother as 
God. His body was formed (not indeed of the dust of 
the ground, but in a manner equally unexampled and 
miraculous) of the virgin's substance, by the imme- 
diate power of God ; and so soon as a reasonable soul 
was united to it, in the womb of the virgin, both 
were, that very moment, assumed into the divine 
person of the Son, wherefore, in all propriety, that 
holy thing which was born of her, was called *' the 
Son of God;" — Luke i. 35. or, to use the expression 
of an Old Testament Prophet, was *' a new thing 
created in the earth." — Jcr. xxxi. 22. In the man 
Christ Jesus is found more of the divine likeness than 
all the saints, than all the holy angels can dare to 
boast. ** For which of them have been called at any 
time, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the 
express image of his person ? or to which of them has 
he said, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten 
thee?" — Heb. i. 3, 5. Adam, indeed, might resemble 
his Creator, as the image on the coin resembles the 
king upon the throne; but Jesus Christ resembles 
God, as the prince and heir to the crown resembles 
his royal father, being not only hke him, but of the 
same nature and substance with him. And though 
all simihtudes must be infinitely defective in shadow- 
ing forth the constitution of Immanuel's person, — the 
union of Adam's soul and body is perhaps the best 
natural emblem of it we can expect to find Nor does 
it seem unlawful for us to assist our conception of 



CHRIST AND ADAM COMPARED. J5 

this high mystery by this natural union, inasmuch as 
the Holy Ghost himself, in the Scriptures of the New 
Testament, seems to allude unto it, when he calls his 
humanity the flesh, and his divinity the sfiirit. In the 
former he was manifested, in the latter he was justi- 
fied.— 1 Tim. iii. 18. In the one he was put to death, 
and in the other he was quickened. — 1 Pet. iii. 18. If 
the constitution of the iirst Adam's person was a 
wonderful mystery in nature, the constitution of the 
second Adam's person is no less an incomprehensible 
mystery of grace. 

As Adam was the first man that God created, so 
he was the first father and progenitor of all other 
men, who are every one born in his image as they 
come into the world of nature, and breathe the vital 
air. Just so, from Jesus Christ, the everlasting Fa- 
ther, all who come into the world of grace derive 
their spiritual being; his image they bear, — 1 Cor. 
xviii. 49. and from him '* the whole family in heaven 
and in earth is named." — Efih, iii. 15. Though here 
also there is a considerable disparity betwixt the 
earthly man and the heavenly Adam. The first man 
is not the immediate, but the remote father our flesh ; 
— for " one generation goes, and another comes :" but 
Jesus Christ is the immediate Father of all his saints, 
who in every age receive from him the light of life, 
as the silver moon, and all the sparkling stars, draw 
light immediately from the sun, the fountain of the 
day. " The first Adam,*' as Moses relates, " was 
made a living soul," — 1 Cor. xv. 45. that he might 
convey a natural life to them who had not received 
it; but *' the second Adam," as the apostle declares, 
*' was made a quickening spirit," to impart a spiritual 
life to fhem who had lost it, and were dead in tres- 
passes and sins : and at the resurrection of the just to 
quicken also their mortal bodies. For '* as in Adam all 
die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." 

Once more, Adam was the first lord and king of 
the world. " Being made a little lower than the an- 
gels he was crowned with glory and honour. He had 
dominion over the works of God's hands; and all 
thiiigs were put under his feet : all sheep and oxen, 
the beast of the field, and whatsoever passeth 
through the paths of the seas." — Ps, viii. 3, 4, 5. 



16 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

But, alas ! the dominion of this lord of the inferior 
creation was short-lived; for '' being in honour, he 
continued not." — Fs, xlix. 12. Nevertheless, in the 
person of Jesus Christ, God- man, the primeval sove- 
reignty of the human nature is most amply restored; 
for ** he is made head over all things unto his body the 
church, both in the heights and depths." — Efih. i. 22. 
The jurisdiction of Adam, though wide, was not uni- 
versal ; but the kingdom of Jesus Christ ruleth over 
all. He can. if he pleases, extinguish the stars and 
the sun, which shine by his permission. And *'of his 
government and peace there shall be no end." — 
Is a. ix. 7. 

Now let us come to the marriage of our great pro- 
genitor. God saw it was not good for man to be alone: 
— GeTs. ii. 18. he casts him into a deep sleep, opens 
his side, takes from him a rib, by his creative power 
he forms a woman out of it, closes the wound, pre- 
sents the newly formed creature to her husband, >^o 
being awaked knew what was done unto him, and 
wi'^h wonder acknowledged this last and best gift of 
heaven, to be bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, 
" For this cause," sa5^s the sacred historian, ** should 
a man leave his father and mother, and cleave untp 
his wife." — Gen, ii. 23. Now, may we be allowed to 
allegorize this real history? Does not the apostle 
seem to say ; that this is spoken of Christ and the 
church? — iEfih. V. 32. Let us modestly pursue the 
allegory a little. The second Adam, that he might 
give life and being to his beloved spouse, the churcl^ 
the mother of all that are truly living, was content to 
sleep the sleep of death. This sleep of death was not 
the effect of nature, for he died not of old age or sick- 
ness; but he was voluntarily cast into it, and was de-^ 
livered by the determinate counsel and foreknow- 
ledge of God to be crucified and slain. His side was 
opened with a spear, and from the gaping m ound 
came water and blood, that he might sanctify and 
cleanse and present " to him a glorious church, not 
ha\-ing spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." — £/i/i, 
V. 27. By this sleep of death, into which he was cast, 
he becomes at once her husband and her Father ; for 
she is a part of himself, of his body, of his flesh, and 
of his bones. — JZph.v. 30. When he awaked at his 



CHRIST AND ADAM COMPARED. IT' 

resurrection, his wounds were healed ; he found him- 
self a glorious conqueror; he saw the travail of his 
soul, and was satisfied. He acknowledges the rela- 
tion, and betroth s her to himself for ever in loving- 
kindness, in mercies, and in faithfulness. A bloody- 
spouse was the church to thee, O dying Redeemer? 
So matchless was his love, he left his Father and his 
mother to cleave to his unworthy bride — he left his 
Father in heaven^ when he came from thence into 
this lower world, and consented to be forsaken for a 
season — left his mother on earth, when he ascended 
on high as the Captain of Salvation. He left the 
blessed virgin that bare him to provide for herselt ; 
he left the church of the Jews, although his mother- 
church, that he might clea\ e unto the Gentile church, 
gathered out of all nations. 

Lastly, Adam was the first covenant-head and 
public representative. It is true, the hints of this 
transaction are but sparingly given in the book of 
Genesis. However, the truth of it is clearly evinced 
from the tenonr of divine revelation, and it is evident, 
that before the law was given by Moses, a law was 
given to Adam, because death reigned from Adam 
to Moses, and there behoved to be a law by which 
this death did reign. For, as the inspired apostle ar- 
gues with the greatest force of reason, *' sin is not 
imputed where there is no law." — Rom, v. 13. Was 
there then a law before the covenant of Sinai ? It 
was surely none other but the law of works, which 
God gave to the first man, in whom, as their cove- 
nant head, his posterity were either to stand or fall. 
Full well we know the doleful event. '* But as by 
one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so 
by the obedience of one, shall many be made righ- 
teous." — Rom. V. 19. The first Adam through pride 
disobeyed the most easy precept, and the last Adam 
obeyed the most difficult commandment. The first 
Adam, being a man, affected to be as God: the se- 
cond Adam, being God, was found in fashion as a 
man. The first Adam was assaulted by the devil in 
paradise, and was overcome : the second Adam was 
tempted in the wilderness, by the same malicious 
spirit, but he was a conqueror. The first Adam 
breaking the law in one point, was guilty of all: the 

B 2 



13 TYPICAL PERSONS. Boo,k !> 

last Adam observing it in every point, did magnify* 
and make it honourable. The moment we become 
the children of Adam by natural generalion, ^\e die, 
for a sin which we could not personally commit: the 
moment we become the children of Christ by re- 
generation, we are made alive, by a righteousness 
which we could not actually work out. In Adam we 
are condemned for one sin ; but in Christ we are jus- 
tified from innumerable offences. In the first book 
of the Bible we have a melancholy relation, how the 
first Adam was so far from being able to transmit 
life and happiness to his posterity, or to giv^e them to 
eat of the tree of life, that himself was driven out 
from the terrestrial paradise, and debarred from all 
access to that sacramental tree : but in the last book 
of the sacred oracles, we are presented with a view 
of the second Adam, in a far more glorious place than 
that happy garden, and hear him declaring from his 
own mouth, " To him that overcometh, will I give 
to eat of the tree of life, that is in the midst of the 
paradise of God." — Rev. ii. 7. 

For ever blessed be the glorious name of God, that 
what the first Adam could not keep, the second hath 
amply restored to us; *' For as in Adam sin hath 
reigned unto death; so grace hath reigned through 
righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
Lord:" — Ro?n. v. 21. who is not only come that 
" we might have life, but that we might have it more 
abundantly."— yo/m x. 10. 



(19) 



11. THE HISTORY OF NOAEl. 

00000 

THAT Noah was a figure of Jesus Christ, seems 
not obscurely hinted in his very name given liim by 
his rehgious father, not without prophetic instinct. It 
signifies rest, comfort, and, as some have observed, 
grace, when its letters are a httle transposed. So 
Christ is our consolation, our rest, and by him grace 
reigns unto eternal life. Of him we may truly say 
with the strictest propriety, ** This same shall com- 
fort us concerning our work and toil of our hands." — 
Gen. V. 29. Noah *' was a just man, and perfect in 
his generations, and walked with God," — Gtn, 
vi. 6. when the wickedness of men was grown to 
the most exorbitant height and all flesh had cor- 
rupted their way, he dared to be good, when all 
were turned degenerate ; and, fearless of reproach 
or violence, he admonished them of their wicked 
ways, preaching righteousness in their assemblies. — 
2 Pet. ii. 5. So Christ preserved his integrity in 
every the smallest instance, in an evil and adulte- 
rous generation, preaching what he practised, with 
not unlike success to Noah. For it is written of him 
in the Psalms, *' I have preached righteousness in 
the great congregation : lo, I have not refrained my 
lips, O Lord thou knowest." — Psal, xh 9. In some sea° 
sons of the Almighty's vengeance, we are informed, 
that the- righteousness of Noah, Daniel, and Job, 
could not deliver a sinning people, nor yet their 
nearest relations, from the lifted stroke. — i.zek. xiv. 
4. Truly Noah, though righteous, could not by his 
righteousness, avert the waters of the flood. But the 
righteousness of our adorable Redeemer is of such 
infinite value and perfection, as to dehver from death 
an innumerable multitude of transgressors. 

But let us chiefly consider that memorable history 
t)f Noah, his preparing an ark for the saving of his 
house, the antitype of which remarkable event, we 
are informed by the apostle Peter, is " our being 
saved by baptism (not the putting away of the filth 



20 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book f, 

of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 
—1 Ph. iii. 21, 22. The long-suffering of God was 
now tired out, and his Spirit ceased to strive with 
rebellious men, whom all means had proved ineffec- 
tual to reclaim. The time was come when the threat- 
ened vengeance was to descend with resistless fury. 
Noah, being long before warned of God, had pre- 
pared an ark against the approaching deluge: for 
he believed God; and being moved with fear, he 
obeyed the commandment of the Lord. He despised 
the jeers of the unbelieving world, and considered 
not the huge difficulties he behoved to surmount, be- 
fore he could get a vessel constructed, of such bulk 
as would contain in its capacious hold, all sorts of 
beasts and birds, together with their necessary pro- 
visions, for so long a time as he was to be a prisoner. 
That God who commanded him, that God in whom 
he believed, and whom he feared, enabled him also 
both to begin and finish. The ship is built, the cargo 
is taken in, the flood comes, and the waters prevail 
above the tallest trees, and loftiest mountains. The 
sinful race of man is bnried in a watery grave. But 
the ark, the peculiar care of heaven, "^though with- 
out helm or mast, rides triumphant over the foaming 
billows, is preserved from dashing on the craggy 
rocks, or foundering in the mighty waters. At length, 
a dove fetching in her mouth an olive-leaf, — Gen. 
viii. 11. informs the inhabitants of tiie ark, that the 
waters were abated. They are at last released from 
their tedions confinement. The venerable patriarch, 
overwhelmed with gratitude for such a wonderful 
preservation amidst the howling waste, sacrifices 
unto the Lord, who smells a savour of rest, — Gen, viii. 
21. and renews with him his gracious covenant, that 
he will no more curse the ground for man's sake. A 
glorious rain-bow is seen over his head stampt in the 
clouds, — Gen. ix. 13. which from that time became 
a peaceful sign that the waters shall never more 
cover the face of the earth ; and though the waves 
shall toss themselves against the sandy shores, that 
they shall never prevail. Who sees not, in this whole 
transaction, a lively picture of the method of our 
salvation bv Jesus Christ from a far more dreadful 



THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 2 1 

fiood, that shall, sooner or later, descend upon the 
head of every sinner ? In Jesus Christ we have the 
antitype of Noah, both floating in the ark, standing 
at the altar, and compassed with the rain-bow. In- 
deed he is at once the ark that saves us from the 
floods of divine wrath, the sacrifice that atones the 
incensed justice of God, and the rain-bow that makes 
our clouds of every sort to wear sweet smiles. 
Though Noah's ark, and sacrifice, and rainbow, 
were things different from himself, and from one 
another, in Jesus Christ they are all conjoined. 

What mortal wit would have contrived such an ex- 
pedient as the ark of Noah, to save from an univer- 
sal deluge ? — There is no doubt but the whole scheme 
appeared very ridiculous to the generality of the 
world. Noah himself was not the contriver of this 
project. It was wholly planned by God. Even so, 
if men and angels had tortured their invention to 
save a guilty world, they could never have so much 
as suggested that method which the wisdom of God 
has fallen upon in the mediation of Jesus Christ. So 
far does it transcend the thoughts of men ; that na- 
turally they cannot receive the mystery of God's 
■will. For it is '* to the Jews a stumbling block, and 
to the Greeks foolishness." — 1 Cor, i. 23. In this 
wonderful vessel were found only eight souls, — 1 Pet. 
iii. 20. the little family of Noah ; and how small was 
that number to the myriads that perished in the 
waves ? — even so the flock of Christ is but a little 
flock ; for though ** many are called, yet few are 
chosen." — Mat. xx. 16. O how unsearchable are his 
judgments! It was no doubt very strange to see the^ 
wildest beasts and birds dwelling peaceably together 
under the same roof in that time of common danger: 
but no more strange than what happens every time 
when sinners are converted unto God, and enter into 
his sanctuary. For in Jesus Christ, the men of rave- 
nous natures forget their natural ferocity, and put 
on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, humble- 
ness of mind, meekness, and long suffering ; and, to 
use the lofty style of the prophet, ** the wolf shall 
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
with the kid, and the young lion and fatlinp; together: 
— they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 



^2 TYPICAL PERSONS, Book I 

mountain." — Isa» xi. 6. Dreadful, to be sure, were 
ihe buffetings of the rolling surges on the sides of 
the ark, when heaven and earth seemed to conspire 
its ruin : but being protected by a superior provi- 
dence, the vessel, though heavy laden, weathered 
the storm, preserved alive all the creatures that 
were within her, and at last rested upon the moun- 
tains of Ararat. So did the waves and billows of the 
Father's wrath go over thine head, O suffering 
Saviour; and the floods of ungodly men made thee 
afraid: — PsaL xviii. 4. but thou wast more than a 
conqueror, and at last did find thy rest on the moun- 
tains of eternal glory, having both saved thyself, and 
all that are found in thee : thou art our " hiding- 
place from the storm, and a covert from the tem- 
pest. If it had not been the Lord who was on our 
side, the waters of God's wrath had swallowed us 
up quick : then the waters had overwhelmed us, the 
stream had gone over our soul : the proud waters 
had gone over our soul." — Psal. cxxiv. 4. When we 
are told in the sacred history, that a dove alighted 
on the ark with an olive leaf, what should hinder 
us 'to think of the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who 
alighted upon him, in the waters of Jordan, in the 
likeness of that gentle bird ? and who brings glad 
tidings of great joy to all the inhabitants of the ark, 
when he assures' them, by the most incontestible 
proofs, that the winter of wrath is past, and the rain 
is over and gone. — Soncf. ii 11. The holy Sire is now 
gone forth at the appointed season; and beholding 
the dismal desolation, he off'ers an atoning sacrifice 
of every clean bird and beast , and the Lord smelled 
a savour of the rest This naturally leads us to think 
of him who gave himself for us an offering and a sa- 
crifice of a sweet smelling savour, — Efih. v. 2. So 
well pleased is God with Jes^us Christ, that with him 
he establishes his covenant, and with all his seed, that 
they shall never come into condemnation. Hear what 
himself declares by the mouth of the holy prophet 
Isaiah: *' This is as the waters of Noah unto me: 
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no 
more go over the earth: so have I sworn that 1 
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee, O 
thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com- 



THE HISTORY OF NOAH. 03 

foiled." — Isa, liv. 9. See how the frowning clouds 
now smile with the glorious colours of the rain-bow, 
the cheerful token of God's covenant. It is a bow, 
but it has no arrow ; and the face of it is turned away 
from us, in token of reconciliation. Such is the 
glorious transformation of all your afflictions by Je- 
sus Christ, O ye heirs of righteousness. They are 
clouds indeed, dark clouds, but they shall not drown, 
nay, they shall fructify your soul, and make you re- 
vive as the corn. What before was an indication of 
wrath, and a cause of fear, is now a token of love, 
and an encouragement of faith. A rain-bow for ever 
encompasses the throne of your God, — Rev, iv. 3. 
though from it should proceed lightning and thunders, 
and voices. Though, like that mighty angel in the 
Revelation, — Isa. x. 1. he should be clothed with a 
cloud in the dispensations of his providence, his 
sunny face will produce a rain- bow round about his 
^lead. He is ever mindful of his covenant, and vou 
«eed not to fear the terrors of his glory, 



(24) 



111. THE HISTORY OP MELCHIZEDEC. 

00000 

NOW we shall come to the short, but comprehen- 
sive history of Melchizedec ; the figurative meaning 
of which is not only hinted to us in the sacred oracles, 
but the Holy Ghost condescends to enter on a very 
particular explication of it. — Heb, vii. The narra- 
tive related by Moses is shortly this. — See Gen, xiv. 
The patriarch Abraham had, with his little army, 
surprised and defeated the forces of the confederate 
kings, who had plundered Sodom, and, among other 
prisoners, had carried away captive his kinsman 
Lot, who living in that wicked city was now a very 
singular blessing to his sinful fellow-citizens, being 
the occasion of their rescue from the invaders of 
their country. As he returned from the slaughter^ 
he was met by the king of Sodom, with another king^ 
of a very different character : his name was Melchize- 
dec, which though a very fine one, for it signifies 
" king of righteousness," was not unsuitable to his 
real character, and is a proper admonition to all 
other kings tor what they should be distingmshed. 
The name of this city was Salem : whether it was 
that Salem where Jehovah: afterwards had his ta- 
bernacle, or another place of the same name, is not 
precisely determined. However, we are assured, 
that upon this occasion he brought forth bread and 
wine, not as a sacrifice to God, O ye papists, but to 
refresh the patriarch's men, fatigued with toil : But 
the most extraordinary circumstance of all is, that, 
though living in that wicked country, he was priest 
of the Most High God, and vested with regal dignity. 
When all around him was sunk in superstition and 
idolatry, this illustrious Gentile retained the know- 
ledge of the true God, and thoi^ht it no disparage- 
ment of his kingly honour to officiate in the solemn 
rites of his holy worship. The hospitable monarch 
was a no less religious priest. As in the former ca- 
pacity, he brought forth bread and wine ; so in the 
latter, he blessed the renovned patriarch, and re- 



THK HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. 25 

ceived from him tithes of all. Thus far the sacred 
story. But from what parents he descended, when he 
was born, or when he died, who were his predeces- 
sors, or who succeeded him, are questions we are not 
permitted to resolve. And even the silence of the 
scripture are expressive : ** For he was made like 
unto the Son of God," both in what Moses relates 
concerning him, and in what he conceals from the 
curious enquirer. Let uis carefully observe these two 
heads of resemblance, and we shall easily under- 
stand how David in spirit says of the Messiah, 
*' Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Mel- 
chizedec. — Ps. ex. 4. 

We shall fiist begin with what Moses relates of 
this extraordinary man. — To v/hom can his name 
Melchizedec so properly belong as to the King that 
reigns in righteousness ; who, righteous himself, has 
wrought for all his subjects a justifying righteousness 
by the merit of his blood, and Avorks in all his sub- 
jects a sanctifying righteousness by the power of his 
spirit? — He, he is the king of Salem, which is by in- 
terpretation. King of peace. Peace is the disposition 
for which he was renowned, who with his dying 
breath implored forgiveness to his bloody murderers : 
peace is the grand blessing he died to purchase, and 
olives to confer. O g'lorious peace, of which righteous- 
ness is the foundation, and joy in the Holy Ghost the 
inseparable attendant! Hail ye subjects of his aus- 
picious government, who call the blessings of his 
purchase all your own ! Lo in your princely Saviour, 
the great Jehovah lays aside his vindictive wrath, 
and becomes your loving Father ; the angels no 
more stand aloof, but commence your ministers and 
guardians ; the inferior creatures are turned into 
your faithful friends and allies ; the Jews and Gen- 
tiles forgetting their former enmity, join in the inost 
cordial friendship ; and conscience, no more an ac- 
cuser, whispers peace in gentlest accents. — Though 
** in the world you should have tribulation, yet in 
him you shall have peace." O Prince of peace, ex- 
tend the borders of thy peaceful kingdom far and 
wide, and let the wisiied period come when the na- 
tions shall learn war no more ! O let thy peace rule 
in our hearts, through these tumultuous scenes ot 

C 



26 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

life ; and bring us at last to these calm regions of 
joy and felicity, where peace extends her dbve like 
wings for ever and ever ! — " He brought forth bread 
and^ wine," to refresh the hungry and thirsty sol- 
diers, when returning from the slaughter of the 
kings. Such is the refreshment which the true Mel- 
chizedec affords, and will afford to all that are trvily 
engaged in the spiritual warfare. He " has prepared 
of his goodness for the poor. O come unto him, and 
you shall never hunger ; believe on him, and you 
shall never thirst. Eat of this bread, and drink of the 
wine which he has mingled." Happy they who shall 
conquer in the holy warfare, for they '* shall eat of 
the hidden manna, and the Lamb in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them. And he was priest of the 
Most High God." An honour not usually appro- 
priated to those that sit on thrones : for God him- 
self was pleased to provide against the blenduig of 
these offices in the commonwealth of Israel. Wit- 
ness thy fate, Uzziah, — 2 Chron. xxvi. 18. who 
snatching at the censer, lost the sceptic. And shall 
the tripple-crowned priest of Rome, who exalts him- 
self above all that is called God, go always unpun- 
ished ? But of Jesus Christ, a prophet testifies, *' He 
shall sit and rule upon his throne ; and he shall I)e 
a priest upon his throne,"— Zec/r. vi. 13. as once he 
was a king upon his cross. " And he blessed Abram." 
So Christ our royal Priest, was sent of God to bless 
the children of Abram, not with a verbal, but real 
benediction, in turning every one of us from our ini- 
(^uity ; and men shall be blessed in him. Consider, 
in the last place, how great this man was, to whom 
even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the 
spoils; and. as we may say, even Levi, who received 
tithes from the people by the commandment of God, 
was tithed in the loins of his progenitor. A most con- 
vincing proof, that this Melchizedec was both a 
greater man than Abram, and a greater priest than 
Aaron. But we Christians have a great High-Priest^ 
in whose presence Abram must not glory, Levi has 
no pre-eminence. To our Melchizedec, the royal 
priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people, do 
pay, not only tithes but all they have and are, wheii 
they present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy au4 



THE HISTORY OF MELCHIZEDEC. ^"J 

acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable ser- 
vice. — Rom, xii. 1. 

But the circumstances which Moses conceals, are 
no le^s woithy of our notice than those he reveals. 
In vain vou ask his genealogy, his birth, his death,,or 
the ceremonies of his consecration : for those are 
bviried in darkness; the Holy Ghost intending to 
signify, that Jesus Christ is really and truly what 
this mysterious king is in the history. Without Fa- 
ther,— not as he was God, but man. — Without 
mother, — not as he was man, but God. — Without 
descent, — for having no predecessors in office, he 
needed not to prove, that he was sprung from the 
priestly tribe ; which was an essential qualification 
in the Levitical priesthood. — Having neither begin- 
ning of days, nor end of life, — for being set up from 
everlasting, he abideth a priest continually ; for 
though he died, yet even in death he was a priest, 
and now he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them. — What shall we say more? In the order of 
Aaron were many priests, who, like other mortals, 
resigning their breath by the stroke of death, their 
priestly honour was laid in the dust with them. We 
know from whence they arose, with what carnal or- 
dinances and ceremonies they receive their inaugu- 
ration, what sacrifices they offered, in what holy 
places they officiated, who assisted them in their 
various functions, and who succeeded them when 
they either died, or were deposed from their office. 
But the priest after the order of Melchizedec, be- 
ing possessed of immortal life, and called of God 
without external ceremonies to his high office, him- 
self was the sacrifice, himself was the altar, himself 
was his tabernacle and temple, assisted by none, nor 
succeeded by any. In Melchizedec, whom Moses 
speaks of as though he had been immortal, we have 
but indeed a faint shadow, and not the very image 
of the things themselves, that are found in Jesus 
Christ. But let the faintness of the resemblance re- 
mind us of the greatness of the mysteries, " For who 
shall declare his generation?" 



(28) 



IV. THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 

OOOOQ 

NEXT we shall glance at a very extraordinary 
piece of history, of the most difficult commandment 
that was ever given to any of the human race yet 
was it punctually obeyed, and the obedience amply 
rewarded. It is the story of Abraham's oflfering up 
his son Isaac at the commandment of the Lord. — 
See Gen, xjcii. Fhe famous patriarch had endured 
many trials and proved the sincerity of his faith by 
along course of obedience, and stedfast dependence 
on the divine veracity, from the time he was called 
to leave his native Ur in the land of Chaldea. Long 
did he count him faithful who had promised, that he 
should have a son, in whom all nations should be 
blessed, even when the accomplishment of the pro- 
mise seemed next to impossible. At last the expected 
child is born, a son of his old age ; he flourishes 
apace, and is now flushed with the radiant bloom of 
youth, both lovely and beloved. The joyful father 
might now think, that the most troublesome scenes 
of life were happily finished, and that it remained 
for him only to die in faith and peace. But how 
greatly would he be mistaken. The sorest, the 
sharpest trial yet remained: *' For it came to pass 
after these things, that God did tempt Abraham. — 
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Mo- 
riah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon 
one of the mountains which I shall tell thee of*' 
Shocking precept ! mysterious mandate ! Did ever 
such a message from God wound a parent's ear! 
Had the voice from heaven denounced, that Isaac 
was to die a natural death, and to be snatched away 
by a sudden stroke, the tidings had been mournful 
and agonizing. But how much more when it is de- 
clared, that the hand of violence must be lifted 
against him, tha^ he must be offered up for a burnt- 
offering, butchered, mangled, and reduced to ashes ! 
But the crowning circumstance that sets forward the 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 29 

calamity, and renders it worse than a thousand 
deaths; the father must be the priest to bind, lo 
kill, to cut, to burn his beloved son. Abraham, 
Avhat were the thoughts of thy heart when your ears 
first heard such dreadful orders ? you were accus- 
tomed to hear the voice of God speaking in more 
soothing accents. Hadst thou not been an extraor- 
dinaiy behever, into what a tempest had all thy soul 
been tossed ? How might reason, natural afilection, 
and religion, have all conspired to persuade thy diso- 
bedience ? Offer up thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
for a burnt oft'ering ! Can this be the voice of God ? 
Sure it must be the voice of some wicked spirit, that 
would impose upon my creduhty, and urge a father 
to imbrue his hands in fiUal blood. But stay : the 
revelation is unquestionable. It was the very voice 
of God. I am not permitted so much as to doubt of 
this. Surely then it must have some other meaning 
than 1 first thought. Surely the merciful God can- 
not mean that I should really kill my Isaac. Take 
now thy son, thine only son, and offer him up for a 
burnt- offering. Alas J my Isaac, was it for this I re- 
ceived thee by special promise? Was it for this thy 
mother brought thee forth, when she was past her 
age. and 1 called thee by a name expres-ive of joy 
and laughter ? How ill dost thou now answer thy 
name ! i hou art not a son of laughter, but of sorrow. 
() God, why couldst thou not rather have demanded 
all my numerous flocks and kids, to smoke in one 
great burnt-cffei ing ? Or if a human sacrifice de- 
lighted thee more, why should my Isaac, rather than 
any other, be the victim ? O that I could redeem his 
life with my own blood ! 

** And must I too be the priest ^ Must he bleed by 
a father's hand ? Ah ? what will the world say ^ They 
will never beheve me, when I tell them it was by thy 
order I did it. — What will Sarah say •* But, chiefly, 
what will come of thy own promise? How will he be 
the father of many nations when he is no more ? O 
ye nations ! I thought that in this mv Isaac you would 
all be blessed: but now farewell for ever all such, 
pleasing hopes. Isaac must die, and the promise fail 
lor evermore !" 

But so strong was the faith of this eminent belie v- 



30 TYPICAL PERSONS. ^ Book 

er, that either such misgiving thoughts were alto 
gether strangers to his mind, or they were soon re- 
pelled. He wisely considered, that what God had 
commanded could not be wrong, and what he had 
promised could not be false. " Be hushed all unbe- 
lieving fears ; for he who gave an Isaac from the 
barren womb to fulfil his promise, can, if he please, 
for the same reason restore him from the burning 
altar. Come then, without delay obey the high com- 
mand, believing that what he has promised, he is 
able also to perform." 

No sooner had the early dawn begun to appear in 
the eastern sky, than the resolved patriarch springs 
from his couch, saddles an ass, takes with him the 
intended victim and servants, as much wood as he 
thought necessary, and proper utensils, for the fu- 
ture sacrifice. Three days they travelled on this 
strange journey, and all that space he looked on his 
son as dead, but the steady purpose of his soul was 
not shaken. Un the third day the fatal hills of Mo- 
riah are descried at a distance, the servants are left 
behind, the wood is laid on Isaac, and Abram carries 
the fire and the knife. — And now, after some en- 
dearing conversation, they are arrived at the ap- 
pointed place. The altar is built, the wood is laid in 
order, the plot is doubtless revealed to Isaac by his 
sedate father ; and Isaac, though fully able to have 
made resistance, or delivered himself by flight, is not 
recorded to have attempted the one or the other : for 
the same Almighty power that touched the patri- 
arch's heart, and made him willing to give the deadly 
stab, did also beyond all doubt, make Isaac no less 
willing, cheerfully to receive it. He is bound like an- 
other victim, he is laid upon the altar, and the hand 
now grasps the fatal knife to be lodged in his guilt- 
less breast ; when lo, a heavenly voice forbids the 
bloody deed, and the patriarch's wiUing mind is ac- 
cepted for the actual sacrifice. His fear of God is 
highly applauded, and by his ^works his faith was 
proved to be perfect. ** Abram,' you spared not your 
son for the sake of my command, but I spare him 
for the sake oi thy obedience. Receive him again 
with my blessing. He shall be the progenitor of the 
Messiah^ and all the nations shall be blessed in him.", 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 3i 

A ram caught by the horns in the thicket supplies 
the room of Isaac, and the grateful patriarch ac- 
knowledges the happy_ providence, in calling the 
name of the place Jehovah-jireh. And afterwards 
it became a common proverb, " In the mount the 
Lord shall be seen." 

O the inconceiveable power of faith, that can ren- 
der the most difficult duties so easy ! Nor is there a 
better way for the children of Abraham to insure 
their dearest enjoyments, and improve them to the 
highest advantage, than by resigning them, totally 
resigning them to the sovereign will of God. But 
surely a higher mystery was contained in this extra- 
ordinary occurrence. Who can forbear here to think 
of the adorable mystery of redemption by Jesus 
Christ,^ — " For God who so loved the world, as not 
to spare his own Son, but delivered him unto the 
death for us alL" Methinks the language of this 
whole transaction was as if God had said, " Ye chil- 
dren of men, hear you what my faithfnl servant and 
friend has done upon this mountain, in cheerfully 
sacrificing his only son to testify his love to God. By 
the same method I will declare my love to a per- 
ishing world, by giving my only begotten Son to fall 
a sacrifice for sin. In this mountain shall the sword 
of justice awake against him by his own consent; 
and what has now been done only in a figure, shall 
be really transacted at the appointed time. Mean 
while let rams, and other beasts, be sacrificed as a 
memorial of this grand burnt-offering ; but let no 
human blood smoke on my altars." 

But more particularly to enumerate the import- 
ant predictions of this prophetical history. It con- 
tained, first of all, a lively intimation, that'in the ful- 
ness of time a human sacrifice should be offered up. 
Indeed it is but just and equal the nature that sinned 
should suffer: for how can the blood of harmless 
beasts atone for the sins of guilty men ? And this 
might seem to have been confessed by the horrible 
custom that obtained in the Gentile world, of sacri- 
ficing men to appease the wrath of their duties. But 
the hving and true God discharged such direful of- 
ferings under the severest penalties, not only for 
their evident barbarity, but because they encroached 



32 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

upon the plan of his infinite wisdom, and anticipated 
the great propitiation, who was to be a human sa- 
crifice, although he was no ordinary person, as Isaac 
was not an ordinary son. Like Isaac he was a Son 
and heir, the Son of God, and the heir of all things, 
— A beloved Son , for he was daily his delight, be- 
fore the mountains were brought forth ; and oftener 
than once it was declared by a voice from the ex- 
cellent glory, * This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased/'— An only Son ; for angels and 
saiiirs, though styled the sons of God, have no claim 
to such a sonship as the filial Godhead is possessed 
of, Isaac, thy birth was altogether extraordinary, 
both by the father's and mother's side, surpassing 
the ordinary course of nature; but still more amaz- 
ing is the generation of our atoning sacrifice, whose 
Fattier as God was the all glorious Jehovah, and 
wiiose mother was a virgin. Fhe event of his birth, 
like Isaac's, was long foretold, and ardently expected 
before it happened; but though long delayed, the 
promise was punctually fulfilled at the appointed 
time. His name impoi-ted joy and gladness. In Jesus, 
the true Isaac, our mouths siiall be filled with laugh- 
ter, and our tongues with melody. 

Ask you the manner of his death? Behold it in 
this lively type. For as Isaac carried the wood, so 
the beloved Son of God carried bis Cross. O ye 
children of men, your iniqinties w^ere the heavy load 
he bore in his own body on the tree. These, like the 
wood that was intended to reduce Isaac to ashes, 
rendered him combusiible to the fire ot divine 
wrath. 

It was for no crime that Isaac was to suffer death 
in tliis tragical manner ; yet such was his filial piety, 
such was his reverence of the high command, that 
he mad no attempt to save his life, though he was 
able to have done it, being arrived at his youthful 
prime. Even so the innocent Redeemer, in whom 
was found no cause of death, no not by his very 
judge, he abhorred not the ignominious cross, he 
spared to employ all the legions of angels that were 
ready at his beck ; he never attempted to make his 
escape when his time was come, which he had often 
done before. Though he had thoroughly digested 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 33 

in his mind the doleful circumstances of his cruci- 
fixion, he betrayed not the least unwillingness to sub- 
mit to his heavenly Father's will, even when his hu- 
man heart shrinked at the bitter cup. ** I lay down," 
says he, *' my life, no man taketh it from me. This 
commandment have I received from my Father, 
Father, not my will, but thine be done." 

It was by his Father's hand alone that Isaac was 
to breathe out his soul by a mortal wound, and by 
him alone was the funeral pile to be lighted up. For 
these purposes, we are informed in the sacred his- 
tory, he carried the fire and the knife. It was not 
the envy of the Jews, it was not the covetousness of 
Judas, it was not the irresolution of the cowardly 
Roman judge, that chiefly consigned our Isaac over 
to the tormenting cross : but being delivered by the 
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, 
these only proved the sinful executioners of the high 
decree. Thy burning anger against the sins of men, 
O heavenly Father, was the fire that pi-eyed upon his 
holy soul. Thy justice, inflexibly severe, was the 
keen flashing sword which awaked against him and 
drank -his vital blood. *' It pleased the Father to 
bruise him : thou didst put him to grief." And truly 
the suiferings of our dying Redeemer were many 
of them of such a nature as none but God could 
inflict, even as none but God could have endured 
them. 

Beyond all peradventure, the scene where these 
things were transacted by Abraham, being in the 
land of Moriah, could not be far distant from the 
horrid eminence of Calvary, or the lovely heights 
of Zion. It is a circumstance by no means unworthy 
of our careful attention, that the true propitiation 
was offered up nearly in the same place where the 
beloved son of Abraham was to expire upon the 
altar. Ye mountains of Moriah, your name may 
now be Jehovah-jireh for the better reason than 
when the ram was caught by Abraham in the thicket, 
which he offered for his Isaac ; for God has now 
provided himself a Lamb, and in these mountains 
the Lord was seen putting away sin by the sacrifice 
of himself. 

It was not possible for a mortal creature to give a 



34 TYPICAL PERSONS; Book h 

higher document of love to God, than by sacrific- 
ing for his sake a dearly beloved and only Son. The 
whole history is fo amazing, that v^e know not 
"whether we should most admire the strange com- 
mandment, or the unparalleled obedience. Even so 
it was not possible for the immortal God to give a 
nobler demonstration of love to men, than by deli- 
vering for their sake his only begotten Son to die for 
their offences : the whole transaction, from first to 
last, is of such uncommon nature, and so foreign to 
every human plan for acceptance with God, that to 
the wise Greeks it was mere foolishness, and to the 
Jews a stumbling-block. As Abraham could not 
■without faith have acquiesced in the precept no 
more can we without faith acquiesce in the gospel- 
plan. — He consulted not with Sarah, when he was 
called to obey ; and when we are called to believe, 
■we must not consult with vain philosophy. Though 
in the mystery of redemption there is a depth of 
wisdom, thy line, O reason, is too short to sound its 
bottom. Reason, especially in its depraved state, 
may not unfitly be compared to the patriarch's ass, 
which staid at the foot of the hill, but ascended not 
with Isaac to the sacrifice. It is the province of 
faith alone to ascend this hill of the Lord, and com- 
prehend the love of God which passeth knowledge. 
Isaac, it is true, was not sacrificed, and there was 
no need that God should raise him from the dead, 
as the patriarch perhaps expected. But as he was 
in a manner a deaa man during all the three days 
that intervened betwixt the sentence being passed 
against him, and the reversing of it by the heavenly 
voice, it may be truly said, that " in a figure he was 
received from the dead." Exactly so, our true Isaac 
was received on the third day from the dead, not 
in a figure only. Like Isaac, he felt no harm ; but, 
•* O death, he was thy plague, O grave he was thy 
destruction." Like Isaac, he returned to his Fa- 
ther's house from whence he came, and became a 
Father of many nations, who are begotten again 
to a lively hope by his resurrection from the dead ; 
for thus the prophet Isaiah — Isa. liii. 10. foretels, 
wiih admirable plainness and propriety, " When 
thou, O heavenly Father, shalt make his soul an of- 



THE HISTORY OF ISAAC. 35 

fering for his sin, he shall see his seed, he shall pro- 
long his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
prosper in his hand." 

Forbear, ye children of men, anxiously to enquire, 
'• Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and 
how shall I bow myself before the high God ? Shall 
I give my first-born for my transgression, and the 
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? For lo, he 
has given his first-born to atone for your transgres- 
sion, and the Son of his love to expiate the sin of 
your souls by the sacrifice of himself. Thus hath he 
shewed you what is good ; and what doth the Lord 
require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy, and 
walk humbly with thy God ?'* 



(36) 



V. THE HISTORY OF JACOB, 

THE history of Jacob's life is also stored with very 
remarkable incidents, not unlike to those which befel 
our Lord Jesus Christ, or which have befallen the 
church, which is his body, and his other self, in all 
ages of the world. — The truth of this will easily ap- 
pear in the following parallel. 

1. The patriarch Jacob 1. The Lord Jesus Christ, 
was chosen of God, who being from everlasting 
loved him before he was the peculiar object of the 
born, to be the progenitor Father's love, was chosen 
of the Jewish nation, who by him before the moun- 
also was chosen in him, tains were brought forth, 
rather than the posterity to be the Father of the na- 
of Esau, called in the tions of them who are 
style of the prophet, " the saved ; who are also cho- 
border of wickedness, sen in him, that they 
and the people against should be holy, and dis- 
whom the Lord hath in- tinguished from the world 
dignation for ever." — 2. that lies in wickedness. 2. 
From this patriarch the From Jesus Christ, the 
Jews, the peculiar people chosen generation are 
ofGod, are named Israel- named Christians. 3. And 
ites, — 3. From him spiTing the twelve apostles of the 
the twelve patriarchs. Lamb, are the fathers of 
who were the fathers of the holy nation according 
that holy nation accord- to the spirit. 4. Behold 
ing to the flesh.— 4. Many and see, was ever any 
and great were the hard- sorrow like unto his } for 
ships which this patriarch his w^hole life was a con- 
conflicted with daring the tinual war with woe. He 
course of his pilgrimage ; was afflicted by the world, 
for it appears that he was harassed by the devil, 
the most afflicted of all and persecuted even by 
his race, both on account God himself. 5. Early, very 
of the treatment he met early he felt the effects of 
with from Esau, from La- the world's undeserved 
ban, and from God him- malice. And his rough 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. S7 

self. 5. Very early he be- brethren the Jews were 
gan to struggle with his so highly incensed against 
rough brother Esau, who him* as to imbrue their 
carried his enmity to such hands in his blood. And 
a pitch, as to resolve to wherefore did ye thus 
murder him, for no other hate him, O ye malicious 
fault than excluding him Jews ? It was because you 
from the privilege of gloried in your birth-right, 
birth-right, which himself and could not endure that 
had justly forfeited, by the kingdom of God 
selling it for a morsel of should, according to his 
meat ; and therefore when doctrine, be taken from 
he would afterwards have you, and transferred to 
inherited the blessing, he the despised Gentiles, 
could not by all his tears though you had justly for- 
induce his lather to be- feited all title to such a 
stow it upon him. 6. In glorious prerogative, by 
vain shall you think, O your great contempt of 
profane Esau, to thwart spiritual and heavenly 
the unalterable decree ; blessings. 6. But be of good 
for the elder shall serve cheer, ye children of Je- 
the younger, and the pos- sus Christ, our Lord and 
terity of Jacob shall put master has overcome the 
garrisons in thy strong world. And the time shall 
hold. 7 With his staff he come, when the saints of 
passed over Jordan, an the Most High shall take 
exile from his father's the kingdom ; and it shall 
house; he served for a be said, Who is this that 
wife, and returned again cometh from Edom, with 
with much substance, hav- dyed garments from Boz- 
ing multiplied into two rah ? 7. With the staff of 
bands. 8. He spoiled La- his cross he passed over 
ban of his substance and the Jordan of death ; and 
idols. But when he fol- wandering in exile from 
lowed after him, to rum- heaven, his father's house, 
mage Jacob's tents, he he took on him the form 
found nothing that belong- of a servant, (such was 
ed to him. And when he his love to the church ;) 
departed from Jacob, the and afterwards he was 
angels of God met him, followed by the two bands 
and he called the place of Jews and Gentiles. 8. 
Mahanaim. But the con- The devil suspecting that 
flict which Jacob had with this was the strong man 
God was by far the most who was to spoil his goods* 

D 



38 TYPICAL PERSONS, Book 1. 

mysterious affliction. Ne- and utterly abolish the 
ver was the patriarch in idols, he fiercely assaulted 
greater distress. Retired him ; but when the prince 
irom his family, and all of this world came unto 
alone, expecting his him in the day of his temp- 
brother Esau to come tation. he found nothing 
upon him with four hun- in him ; and when he left 
dred armed men, he pours our Saviour, the angels 
out his prayer to God; came and administered 
and there wrestled a man unto him. But the conflict 
with him till the breaking which oui* Lord had with 
of the day, to whom he the wrath of God, was 
wept and made supplica- the greatest of all his af- 
tion. But at last he is vie- fiictions. It was the lively 
torious, his life is pre- feeling of almighty anger 
served, and he obtains the that made him sweat 
blessing. blood : when retired from 

his disciples, and expect- 
ing the multitude to come 
upon him with swords and 
staves, he offered up pray- 
ers and supplications with 
strong cries and tears, to 
him that was able to save 
him from death. But at 
last he prevails to obtain 
the blessing, having en- 
dured the wrath of God. 



And as Jacob was obliged to go down to Egypt in 
his old age, to preserve his life from a cruel famine ; 
so Christ Jesus fled into Egypt when he was a child, 
to preserve his life from a bloody tyrant. Afterwards 
was the saying of the prophet fulfilled, *' Out of 
Egypt have I called my Son." And, lastly, as Jacob 
left the world blessing his sons ; so Christ left the 
world blessing his apostles. 

But he was also a type of the mystical body of 
Christ, and indeed of every saint, — whether you view 
him as chosen in the womb, — striving at his birth, — 
buying the birth-right, — meeting the angels of God, 
— wrestling with the angel of the covenant,— or bu- 
ried in Canaan after a troublesome life* Behold in 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 39 

all these an emblem of every one who is an Israelite 
indeed. 

His election in the womb signifies how all the seed 
of Jacob are chosen to salvation. ** Was not Esau 
Jacob's brother," his elder brother, and indeed a 
stronger child? for his hairy skin portended the 
vigour of his constitution Yet was he not chosen to 
inherit the patriarchal blesssing. The happy persons 
whom he chooses to inherit the blessings of eternity, 
are so far from l^eing better than other of their fel- 
low-creatures, that, for the most part, they are 
greatly inferior, both in the endowments of the mind, 
and outward worldly distinctions. " Even so, Father, 
for so it seemeth good in thy sight !" 

His struggling at his birth, when he took hold of 
his brotlier's heel, might be intended to signify, that 
every true Israelite must strive before he come to 
the possession of those blessings that are designed 
for him in the purpose of God. Electing love indeed 
prevents, but not excludes our fighting the good fight 
of faith, and laying hold of eternal life. Miserably 
shall they be disappointed, who dream of seizing the 
kingdom of heaven without violence. When the hus- 
bandman can reasonably hope that indolence will fill 
his bams with plenty, when the soldier can think 
that victory will present liim with her palms without 
striking a blow, then may the yawning Christian, 
whom it grieves to work out his own salvation with 
fear and trembling, expect to reap fruit unto life 
eternal, and tread upon the high places of his spiri- 
tual foes. 

His buying the birth-right for pottage, ludicrous as 
it seems, perhaps may denote the high esteem which 
all the true seed of Jacob have of spiritual blessings. 
O wretched exchange ! to barter for the satisfaction 
of a moment, what was more valuable than an hun- 
dred lives ! Profane Esau, was it nothing valuable to 
inherit the blessing of Abraham, to be the progeni- 
tor, of the Messiah, and to entail on thy posterity the 
true knowledge of God ? All this was undervalued 
when the birth-right was despised. Ye Esaus of the 
world, take to yourselves your present sensual grati- 
fications, and esteem nothing good but present satis- 
faction, fill vour bellies with the hidden treasure of 



40 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

God, and for the short-lived pleasures of sin re- 
nounce your part in heavenly felicities, and bury, 
"Without one sigh, each glorious hope. But let the 
house of Israel labour for the meat that endures 
to everlasting life ; let them implore the cheerful 
light of God's countenance ; let them enjoy the 
vision of his face in righteousness; and when in- 
spired with these blissful expectations, all sublunary 
joys shall in comparison be no more regarded, than 
was thy pottage, Jacob, in comparison of the birth- 
right. 

His receiving the blessing from his father in the 
garments of Esau, which his mother arrayed him 
with, may be viewed as a faint shadow of our receiv- 
ing the blessing from God in the garments of Jesus 
Christ, which all the children of the promise do 
wear. When found in Christ, and clothed with the 
perfuming robes of righteousness imputed, the gar- 
ments of our elder brother, our gracious God and 
Father will forget our sinful imperfections, and be- 
holding no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Is- 
rael, will bless us with all spiritual blessings in Christ 
Jesus. It was not the feigned venison, but the bor- 
rowed garments, that procured the blessing. Even so 
we are not blessed by God for our good works, how- 
ever pleasing unto him, but for the righteousness of 
our Redeemer: for should we presum.e to appear in 
the presence of Jehovah, without this most neces- 
sary precaution of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
our performances, however specious, could meet 
with no acceptance, but the evil which Jacob greatly 
feared would come upon us; we would procure to 
ourselves a curse and not a blessing. 

His meeting the angels, after his interview with 
Laban, when he called the name of the place Maha- 
naim, was not only designed to animate his courage 
amidst the dangers that surrounded him in that jour- 
ney ; but also to hint unto us what is the distinguished 
privilege of all the children of Jacob in their militant 
state : for ** the angel of the Lord encamps round 
about them that fear him " The despiser of his birth- 
right, whose resentment Jacob dreaded, comes in- 
deed escorted by four hundred men. But what were 
these to Jacob's invisible guard ? This honour have 



THE HISTORY OF JACOB. 41 

all his saints, "who come to the innumerable company 
of angels, the ministrant spirits of the heirs of salva- 
tion, and the bright guardians of the just. ' 

His wrestling with the angel (who doubtless was 
the Captain of the host that appeared to him in the 
likeness of a man, (a prelude of his future incarna- 
tion,) over whom he obtained the victory, and from 
whom he received the blessing, when he wept and 
made supplication,) may be considered as a figure 
of that great fight of affliction which the beloved of 
the Lord may lay their account with in the night of 
this world. Even the Lord himself may seem to 
stand against them with his right hand as an adver- 
sary. But as the mighty wrestler with Jacob assumed 
no greater strength than might be overcome ; so 
God, that is faithful will proportion the trials of his 
people to the strength he has given them. And by 
their strength (which yet is not their own) they shall 
prevail; for he that is in appearance against, is really 
for them, and stronger for them than against them. — 
If he casts down, ft is but with his left, but he up- 
holds them with his right hand. Mysterious, but 
comforting truth ! hard to express, but sweet to know. 
Never was Jacob more happy than when he seemed 
most miserable, nor more strong than when he 
seemed most weak; for at once he was lamed and 
blessed, conquered and victorious. A lively emblem 
this of what usually befals the remnant of Jacob ; for 
" happy is the man whom God correcteth." The 
love of the Lord towards the children of Israel is 
written in the most rigorous dispensations; when 
they are weak, then are they strong; and what he 
takes away from them in one way, he restores to ad- 
vantage in another. O happy they who think it no 
solitude to be alone with God! Glorious things are 
spoken of thee, O duty of prayer ! He who can pre- 
vail with God, needs not fear that man should prevail 
against him. 

His burial in Canaan, the land of promise, after a 
life of singular affliction, may represent the distin- 
guished lot of all the faithful, chosen, and called, 
who, after a short course of pilgrimage, harrassed, 
with anxious cares and sorrows, do rest in the pro- 
mised land of the heavenly Canaan. — And truly, the 

D 2 



42 TYPICAL PEPwSONS. Book I, 

beloved Jacob had shared no happiness to be conn- 
pared with hated Esau's, if in this life only he had 
hope. Who would not rather judge, that Esau was 
beloved of God, and Jacob hated, if love or hatred 
could certainly be known by that which happens 
under the sun ? And were the Christian to bound his 
views by the grave, should his hopes terminate in 
death, ah ! then, he were the most wretched of his 
race, and at his best estate he were altogether 
vanity. 

O eternal joys above, O glorious rewards, reserved 
in heaven for those who seek for glory, honour, and 
blessful immortality, by patient continuance in well 
doing ; without you, even pure and undefiled religion 
could scarce compensate the afflictions of this pre- 
sent life, to which we are exposed as men and Chris- 
tians. But these assert the glorious prerogative of re- 
ligion, and the superior happiness of saints. Though 
the days of their pilgrimage, like Jacob's, be few and 
evil ; yet still they are a people saved by the Lord, 
who has blessed them, and they shall be blessed. 



(43) 



VI. THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH, 

00000 

THE history of Joseph's life is doubtless one of the 
most entertaining and eventful which all antiquity 
can boast of. Upon it are inscribed in most lively 
characters, <at once the terrible effects of malice and 
envy, and the watchful care of providence over the 
cause of injured virtue and innocence. But the most 
remarkable thing that claims our attention here» is 
the surprising likeness betwixt the whole narrative 
and the history of Jesus Christ, of whom it may truly 
be said, ** The archers have sorely grieved him, but 
his bow abode in his strength, and the arms of his 
hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty 
God of Jacob." 

He was the beloved son of his father Jacob : and 
truly he seems to have been worthy of his paternal 
favour ; for, detesting the wickedness of his brethren, 
he reported their faults. This, with his prophetic 
dreams which he told them of, so stung them with 
envy and resentment, that they could not speak 
peaceably to him, nor look at him but with disgust 
and aversion. Their causeless anger is turned into 
obdurate hatred of their brother, and soon they find 
an opportunity of wreaking their bloody rage. He is 
sent by his father to enquire of their welfare when 
feeding their flocks in the wilderness ; and dreading 
no harm as he was innocent, and stranger to offence, 
he carefully enquires after them, till at last he finds 
them out. But ah ! " he looked for brethren, and be- 
holds murderers ^ Wrath is cruel, and anger is out- 
rageous: but who can stand before baleful envy !'* 
Transported with this blind fury, they forget at once 
that they were brethren, children, and men, and 
take horrid counsel against the darling youth, to era- 
brue their hands in his guiltless blood. One more 
merciful than the rest moves, that they cast him into 
a pit, rather than murder him outright ; for he in- 
tended by this artifice at once to indulge their fury 
and to elude it, by finding means to restore him 



44 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

again to his father. The motion takes. They strip 
him of his garment of many colours, and, regardless 
of the anguisli of his soul, they let him down into the 
pit; but themselves, O cruel monsters! " sat down 
to eat and drink, for they were not grieved for the 
affliction of Joseph." Here they designed to leave 
him perish miserably in mournful solicitude, but Pro- 
vidence reserved him to better things: for lifting up 
their eyes, they see approaching a company of mer- 
chants, who were of Ishmael's race, and carried balm 
and myrrh from mount Gilead into Egypt; and 
Egypt's future lord is sold unto the merchants for 
twenty pieces of silver, by his savage brethren, who 
dipt his garment in blood, to shew it their father, and 
cloak their matchless villany, by pretending that 
some wild beast had devoured him. Such were once 
the men, O ye Jews, in whom ye glory as your pro- 
genitors ! The innocent sufferer is sold a second time 
to Potiphar in Egypt, in whose service he acquitted 
himself so well, as to gain the good graces of his mas- 
ter, who reposed in him the most entire confidence, 
and entrusted him with the sole management of his 
affairs. But soon, alas ! the temptations of his mistress 
are likely to prove no less dangerous than the malice 
of his brethren. He preserved indeed his chastity by 
the fear of the Lord ; but incurring the undeserved 
suspicion of a base crime, he is committed to the dun- 
geon by his too partial master, as before he had been 
cast into the pit by his cruel brethren. But "the 
king sent and loosed him, and the ruler of the people 
set him free." For as he exposed himself to all his 
troublesome adventurers, by telling his own dreams; 
so by his interpreting the dreams of others, he laid 
the foundation of his subsequent grandeur. On a sud- 
den his prison is turned a palace, his irons a chain 
of gold. Potiphar 's servant is become Potiphar's lord. 
He " whose feet were hurt with fetters, now binds 
the princes at pleasure, and teaches the senators 
wisdom." And as he moves along the crowded 
streets, a herald proclaims before him, ** Bow the 
knee." And now he feeds from his hoarded grana- 
lies the starving nations; for he wisely provided 
against the approach of the famine he foretold. The 
subjects of Pharaoh acknowledge him the saviour of 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 45 

their lives. His unkind brethren, impelled by hunger 
and hard necessity, come also among the supplicants, 
to fulfil his dreams, which they vainly imagined to 
render for ever abortive. He remembered the traces 
of their countenances, and by various harsh methods 
he explores the sincerity of their repentance, and 
acquamts himself with the circumstances of their fa- 
mily. At last his bowels yearning towards them, and 
piteous of their misery, as being sufficiently chastised, 
he makes himself known to them, buries in oblivion 
their past misdemeanors, and transports them to 
dwell with him, where he nourishes them like a fa- 
ther in the midst of a terrible and extensive famine. 
And thus what was intended by the wickedness of 
men as means of extirpating the name of Joseph out 
of the earth, was over-ruled, by the wisdom of God, 
for bringing about his glorious exaltation, for saving 
the lives of much people, and even the lives of those 
who sought his death. 

Which things are an allegory. For Jesus Christ is 
the true Joseph, if you view him as a beloved Son, 
an affectionate brother, a trusty servant, an illumi- 
nated prophet, a resister of temptations, a forgiver 
of injuries, but chiefly if you consider him as an in- 
nocent sufferer, an exalted prince, and an universal 
Saviour. 

Like Joseph, he was a beloved Son, whom God the 
Father has blessed above all his brethren. Jacob 
made for Joseph a garment of divers colours, and 
God prepared for Christ a body curiously wrought 
in the lower parts of the earth. Like Joseph, he is 
an affectionate brother. He came to seek his bre- 
thren in the wilderness of this world, though they re- 
ceived him not. He knows them when they know 
not him, and his bowels yearn towards them, even 
when he seems severe. He may deal roughly with 
them at first, but he will have mercy upon them at 
last. He liberally supplies their wants without money 
and without price, and at last will bring them to 
dwell with him in the heavenly Canaan, where they 
shall behold his glory, and be abundantly satisfied 
with the fatness of his house. Like Joseph,' he was a 
trusty servant, acquitting himself dexterously in 
every part of the work that was given him to do; 



46 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

even as the prophet also for et els, " Behold, my ser- 
vant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted, he 
shall be extolled, and b- very high." Like Joseph, he 
is a most illuminated prophet, in whom the Spirit of 
God is, — none so discreet and wise as he, — the true 
Zaphna^hpaaneah, or revealer of secrets, who is wor- 
thy to take the sealed book of God's decrees, and 
open its seven seals. Like Joseph, he was a resister 
of temptations ; for he was sohcited in vain to spiri- 
tual adultery by the great enemy of salvation, when 
he said unto him, *' All these "ivill I give thee, if thou 
wilt tall down and worship me." Though this harlot 
world hath cast down wounded and slain many 
strong men, our Joseph overcame her : his heart de- 
chned not to her ways ; he went not astray in her 
paths, though in the encounter he was stript of his 
mortal life, which he willingly resigned. Like Joseph, 
he was and is a forgive r of injuries : for as on the 
cross he implored forgiveness to his murderers with 
his expiring breath ; so on the throne he gave re- 
pentance unto Israel and remission of sin. many of 
them whose hand had been very deep in that bloody 
tragedy of his crucifixion being brought to a sincere 
profession, that. *' verily, they were guilty concerning 
their brother," and the blood which they impiously 
shed, spoke better things than that of Abel. 

But chiefly let us view him as an innocent suf- 
ferer, whose' sufferings issued in glory to himself, and 
universal good to men. Joseph is mortally hated of 
his brethren, and the butt of their envy, because he 
exposed their wicked courses, and foretold his own 
advancement. For these same reasons was Jesus 
Chribt hated by the Jews, and Pilate knew that for 
envy they delivered him, Joseph was derided of his 
brethren as an idle fantastic dreamer; and Jesus 
Christ was esteemed a doting enthusiast, a madman, 
and one beside himself. Joseph, his brethren con- 
spired against him to take away his life ; and of Jesus 
Christ it is prophesied, " Why do vhe heathen rage, 
and the people imagine a vain thing, to plot against 
the Lord, and against his anointed .^** Joseph's bre- 
thren stript him of his garments which his father 
made for him ; and of Jes 'S Christ it is said, ** They 
parted ray garments among them, and cast lots for 



THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 47 

(my vesture." Joseph was cast into a pit, but he re- 
imained not long there ; Jesus Christ was laid in the 
^ grave, but he saw no corruption. Joseph was sold for 
a servant by the advice of the patriarch Judah , and 
Jesus Christ was, by the apostle Judas, sold for thirty 
pieces of silver, the price of a slave : A goodly pricer 
he was prized at by them ! Joseph was unjustly ac- 
cused in Egypt, and cast into a dungeon with two 
noted criminals, Pharaoh's butler and baker ; Jesus 
Christ was unjustly condemned in Canaan, and cru- 
cified between two thieves. Joseph adjudged the one 
criminal to death, and the other to life, from the 
same omens ; Jesus Christ adjudged one of the thieves 
to everlasting life, while the other was allowed to 
perish after the same deserts. Joseph entreated the 
person, whom he delivered, to remember him when 
Ihe came to his glory: but the person whom Jesus 
^Christ delivered prayed him, *' O Lord, remember 
^me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Joseph in- 
ideed could but foretel his companion's deliverance ; 
but Jesus Christ effected by his own power what he 
foretold, '* To-day shalt thou be with me in pa- 
radise." 

Such were the patriarch's unparalleled afflictions : 
but as he soon emerged from these deep plunges of 
adversity, becoming of a forlorn prisoner a prime 
minister of state ; so Jesus Christ was taken from 
I prison and from judgment, and receives from God 
the Father " honour and glory, and a name above 
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and 
things under the earth, and every tongue confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 
Behold, ye mistaken Jews, how vain were all your 
machinations to frustrate his predictions. Even you 
yourselves became subser\dent to fulfil the grand de- 
sign, when you killed the Prince of life, who was, by 
suffering death, to enter into his glory. Here the pa- 
triarch's speech to his penitent brethren may fitly 
be applied, ** As for you, ye thought evil against me, 
but (iod meant it unto good, to bring to pass as at 
this day, to save much people ahve." 

For as the sufferings and glory of Joseph issued in 
the common salvation of the lives of Pharaoh's sub- 



48 TYPICAL PERSOJfS. Book I. 

jects, and tile family of Jacob, who was a Syrian 
ready to perish; even so thy sufferings and thy glory, 
O thou once humbled, but now exalted Redeemer, 
were ordained for the salvation of the world, both 
Jews and Gentiles, from a far more dreadful destruc- 
tion than a famine of bread or water ! Go unto this 
Joseph for the supply of your numerous wants, ye 
that are ready to perish. His fulness shall never be 
exhausted be their number ever so great who receive 
out of it. O that his glory might be the joy of our 
heart, and the grand theme of every tongue. With 
what cheerfulness ought we to forsake the stuff of all 
terrestrial things, when Joseph is alive, that we may 
be with him where he is, and enjoy these blessings 
tliat are ** on the head of Jesus Christ and on the 
crown of the head of him that was separated from 
his brethren !" 



(49) 



VIT. THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 

THOUGH Christ and Moses may seem indeed^- 
in one view, to be as unlike one another as the gos- 
pel and the law, as the ministration of righteousness 
and the ministration of condemnation ; we may, hoAV- 
ever, observe in the character and history of this ex- 
traordinary man, a great resemblance to that of 
Jesus Christ, whether we consider him as a deli- 
verer, a mediator, a lawgiver, or a prophet. 

First, let us view Moses as a deliverer of his nation 
from the bondage of Egypt. To this end he was 
born ; and when his life was sought by a bloody ty- 
rant, who murdered his fellow-infants, he was mira- 
culously preserved by his reputed mother, who gave 
him a royal education. But when he was come to 
years, and capable of judging for himself, he despised 
the pleasures of a court and chose rather to claim 
kindred with oppressed slaves, because they were 
the people of God, than with the daughter of Pha- 
raoh, by whose right perhaps he might have inhe- 
rited the crown of Egypt. At last, though his very 
brethren thrust him away, saying, " Who made thee 
a ruler and a judge?" he accomplishes their rescue 
from the land of Nile, spoiling the Egyptians of their 
gold and silver, destroying their first bom, and drown- 
ing Hi the Red Sea the flower of their army ; and all 
this by means of the blood of a lamb which he shed, 
and by his wonder-working rod. Even so the birth of 
the deliverer, who came to Zion to rescue from th e 
oppression of far worse enemies than the Egyptians 
or the Romans, was signalized with the cruel butch- 
ering of the infants in Bethlehem by Herod's mini- 
sters of blood. But the persecuted babe finds a safe 
retreat in Egypt, whither he was conveyed by the 
guardian care of his supposed father. And when he 
"was come to years he disdained an earthly crown, 
when the Jews would have taken him by force, and 
made him a king, as before he had in a sort left for 
a time the court of heaven, the bosom of his Father, 

E 



50 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

and the songs of hymning cherubim s, to endure, in 
these regions of mortahty, afRiction for the people of 
God : for as Moses had a respect to the recompense 
of reward ; so " he, for the joy that was set before 
him, endured the cross, and despised the shame.'* 
And though " his brethren understood not at first, 
that God by his hand would deliver them," and re- 
fused him as an imposter, at last he accomplishes 
their redemption from the cruel bondage of the devil, 
whose power he destroyed by shedding his own blood, 
and by sending the rod of his strength out of Zion. 
By these despised means does the Captain of salva- 
tion bring many sons to glory, through racing sea^ of 
affliction, through waste and howling wildernesses^ 
of various temptations, till they arrive in that happy 
country which God has espied for them, which is 
the glory of all lands. 

As bjr a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of 
Egypt, it is further to be observed, that he acted the 
part ot a mediator between God and Israe], both 
when they fought with Amalek, when they received 
the law, and when they made the calf in Horeb: in 
all which instances he may be viewed as a lively type 
of the one Mediator between God and man, the man 
Christ Jesus. — When the militant church is fighting 
in the valley of this world, as an Amalek shall never 
be wanting from generation to generation, their vic- 
tory depends not so much on their own prowess and 
skill, as on the lifiing up the hands of our great In- 
tercessor, who, like Moses, appears in the presence 
of God upon a high mountain and eminent, even far 
above all heavens. Behold, all ye who are fighting 
the good fight of faith, how your great Mediator's 
hands are lifted up to^vards the throne of God. The 
hands of Moses could not long endure to be stretched 
out, they were heavy and weak, and behoved to be 
strengthened and supported. But Jesus Christ he 
fainteth not, neither is weary, though his hands be 
stretched out still: therefore shall ye prevail who 
fight under his banner, and have reason to say 
'* Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. — And as the law was 
ordained by angels in the hand of Moses as a Media- 
tor ; (for they to whom it was publishedi were afraid 



IHE HISTORY OF MOSES. 5X 

by reason of the fire and dreadful sound which they 
heard, and went not up to the mount;) so Jesus Christ 
our Lord stands betwixt the terrible majesty of an 
angry God, and feeble guilty man, unable to appear 
in the presence of his glory : like Moses, he engaged 
his heart to approach unto God. But Moses only re- 
ported the law to the people, he fulfilled the law. 
Moses quaked, and Christ was sore amazed, inso- 
much that he sweated blood from ail the pores of his 
body. Be not afraid, ye redeemed of the Lord, ye be- 
lieve in God. believe also in him. Though our God 
be a consuming fire, the all-gracious Mediator hath 
quenched the flames, and hushed the storm of wrath 
by his seasonable interposition, and the fiery law is 
now turned into a directing light. — And, lastly, he 
acted the part of a mediator, when they made the 
calf in Horeb. When the anger of the Lord was 
justly incensed against them for ihat enormous crime, 
Moses said unto the people, ** I will go unto the Lord, 
per ad venture I shall make an atonement for your 
sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, 
This i>eople have sinned a grievous sin. But now, if 
thou wilt, forgive their sin; if not, blot me out of the 
book which thou hast written." Perhaps.he intended 
to seek, that the almighty vengeance might rather 
fall on his own head, than that the whole nation 
should perish, though he was not certain whether the 
offered propitiation would be accepted. But Jesus 
Christ has not only offered himself to die for the 
guilty race, but has actually made the atonement 
which Moses proposed to make, and is set forth for 
a propitiation through faith in his blood. 

Next, let us view him as a lawgiver, as the chil- 
dren of Israel sung, '' Moses commanded us a law, 
the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob ; and he 
was king of Jeshurun." But we Christians may say, 
in the language of the prophet, " The Lord is our 
Judge, the Lord is our King, the Lord is our Law- 
giver, he will save us." A law is now gone forth of 
Zion; but, Moses, not like thine, consisting of carnal 
ordinances, — a law, not of works, but of faith, — a law 
for which the isles of the Gentiles shall wait, — a law 
which is not so much obeyed by doing as by believ- 
ing, — and which will never stand in need of reforma- 
tion or repeal. 



52 TYPICAL PEaSONS. Book I. 

But, lastly, let us view him in his prophetic cha^ 
racter, of whom it is testified, *' There arose no pro- 

£het since in Israel like unto Moses, to whom the 
lOrd spoke face to face." Yet Moses truly said unto 
the fathers, ** A prophet shall the Lord your God 
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; 
and him shall you hear in all things." Though we 
had not the express authority of an apostle for the 
application of this prediction to the Apostle and 
High-Priest of our profession, we can scarcely be at 
loss to see how ii can agree to none other. He, he is 
that prophet that should come upto the world, of 
whom Moses wrote, and who is like unto him, if you 
consider — The stock from whence he sprung ; for he 
was raised from among his brethren, not assuming 
the nature of angels, but the nature of man, and of 
the seed of Abraham. — The meekness of his temper, 
which excelled the meekness of Moses, as far as the 
meekness of Moses excelled the meekness of other 
men. The Hebrew law-giver, meek as he was, can- 
not be altogether free from sallies of impatience ; but 
the meek and lowly Jesus, ^^ho calls us to learn of 
him, '.vas never indecently transported with rage, 
nor uttered one word unadvisedly with his lips, 
though upon the most provoking occasion. — The 
lustre of his face. For not to mention his transfigura- 
tion on the mount, when his face did shine as the 
sun, he is in his divine Person the brightness of his 
Father's glory, which, like Moses, he covered with 
the vail of his flesh, when he descended into our 
world, that he might be qualified for holding fami- 
liar converse with men upon etirth, his terror not 
making them afraid. For if the face of Moses the 
servant did shine with such dazzling glory, by a 
short abode in the presence of Jehovah, on an 
earthly mount, that the Israelites could not endure 
to behold him without a vail ; how much less could 
the feeble eyes of mortal men have endured the 
face of Christ the Son, who abideth from everlast- 
ing in the presence of Jehovah, was daily his de- 
light, had he shone forth, in all the blaze of Deity, 
without the thick vail of his flesh ?— The clear- 
ness of his manifestations. Of Moses indeed it is 
isaid, " With him I will speak mouth to mouth," even 



THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 53 

apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the simili- 
tude of the Lord shall he behold ; whereas it was 
usual for the prophets of inferior rank, to receive the 
intimations of the divine will in dreams when they 
were asleep, and ecstacies when awake. But of this 
Prophet in the New Testament church his harbinger 
declares, '* No man hath seen God at any time ; but 
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the 
Father, he hath declared him." — His fidelity in exe- 
cuting his commission ; for ** the words the Father 
gave unto him, he gave unto them ; and as the Fa- 
ther gave him commandment, so he spake. Moses 
indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, but 
Christ as a Son over his own house." — The opposi- 
tion he met with from Jews and Gentiles. He en- 
dured the contradiction of sinners against himself, 
even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses. And 
as his nearest relations quarrelled with him for mar- 
rying Zipporah, the Ethiopian woman, so did the 
Jews with Christ for espousing the Gentile church. — 
The miracles he wrought. " It was never so seen in 
Israel." Like Moses, he fed the Israelites in the wil- 
derness, and their living was as miraculous as their 
eating. 

What Moses did literally, the same Christ does 
spiritually for the beloved Israel. He sweetens their 
bitter waters, cures their diseases, supplies their 
wants. Like Moses he fasted forty days ; and like 
Moses he died at the commandment of the Lord. 



E 



(54) 



VIII. THE ORDINANCE OF THE PEIESTHOOD, 



'00000- 



AS the sun paints the clouds with variety of glo- 
rious colours, which in their own nature are but dark 
and lowering vapours exhaled from the earth ; so 
when the Son of righteousness arises, even the car- 
nal ordinances and commandments of the law, dark 
and earthly as they seem, are gilded bv his beams, 
and wear a smiling appearance. By his kindly influ- 
ence, who is the light of ihe world, the most barren 
places of the scripture rejoice, and blossom as the 
rose. What portion of sacred writ is more apt to be 
perused without edification and delight, than what 
relates to the Levitical priesthood; the qualifications 
cf their persons, their apparel, their consecration ; 
and different parts of their function } And indeed it 
must be confessed a very hard task to reconcile with 
the wisdom of God the enjoining such numberless 
rites, purely for their own sak€. But when we con- 
sider that Aaron, and his successors, were figures of 
our great High-Priest, we must acknowledge, that 
these injunctions are neither unworthy of God, nor 
useless to man, but are profitable for doctrine, and 
instruction in righteousness. We shall instance in a 
few things. 

And, first, we shall take notice of the laws relating 
to the persons of Aaron and his sons. Whosoever he 
was that approached to God in the character of an 
high' priest, he behoved according to the law of Mo- 
ses, to be of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Levi, the 
family of Aaron, his genealogy, well attested, his 
body sound, his life temperate, (for he was not to 
drink wine, or other intoxicating liquors;) his wife 
must be either a virgin, or the widow of a priest, but 
by no means a divorced woman, or an harlot : and, 
lastly, it was absolutely forbidden that he should go 
out of the sanctuary to mourn for the dead, unless 
they were his nearest relations. Let us apply these 
things to our High-Priest. It must indeed be ac- 
knowledged, that he was neither of the tribe of Levi, 



- THE ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. ^^ 

nor family of Aaron; for it is evident our Lord 
sfirang out qfJudah, and Closes says nothing of the 
priesthood belonging to that tribe. In this respect, to- 
be sure, he differs from them rn a very essential point, 
which however it disqualified him from officiating in 
the temple, (for if he were on earth he should not be 
a priest) yet does not in the least infer his incapacity 
to be a priest of higher order than the order of Aaron, 
that is the order of Melchizedec, who joined in one 
person the priest and the king. The character and 
office of a Levitical priest he never assumed when 
he was upon earth, as indeed he could not have any 
claim upon it. What shall v/e say then? That he is 
inferior to Aaron and his successors upon this ac- 
count? Nay, the difference of his tribe is the most 
convincing proof of the super-eminence of his order. 
Like Aaron, he was taken from among men, and was 
an Hebrew of the Hebrews, and never any priest of 
them all, could boast of such illustrious pedigree as 
Jesus Christ. Which of them all was born of a virgin ? 
and to which of them said God at any time. Thou art 
my beloved Son, this day have I begotten thee ? — 
The genealogy of the ancient priests behoved to be 
firmly documented ; bat they had no such illustrious 
proofs of their being the sonsof Levi, as Christ had of 
his being the Son of God, which his Father attested, 
both by the voice from heaven, and by the mighty 
works he enabled him to do. — The soundness of their 
body was no doubt intended to prefigure the integrity 
and perfection of Jesus Christ in his soul ; for the least 
deformity here had rendered him utterly incapable 
of propitiating the Deity by the Sacrifice of himself: 
for such an high firiest became us, nvho though falsety 
accused of many sins, was never convicted of any, but 
ivas holy^ harmless, undefiled, sefiarate from sinners, 
and a lamb without blemish, and without spot, even 
in the pure eyes of God. — Their restriction to marry 
a wife in her virginity, may perhaps denote, that the 
human nature which our great High-Priest, Jesus the 
Son of God, deigned to wed to his divine person, was 
not deflowered with sin, but a pure, incorruptible, 
and holy thing. But, beyond all doubt, we are naturally 
led to think of the whole church, and every member 
of that society, being presented as chaste virgins unto 



56 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book 1. 

Christ. In vain does the harlot church of Rome, that 
great whore that sits on many waters, claim the 
high prerogative of being ihe only spouse of Christ. 
Hear what the apostle declares of the followers of 
the Lamb : *' These are they which were not de- 
filed with women, for they are virgins : these were 
redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits to 
God and to the Lamb. — The abstinence from wine 
and strong drink, which was commanded, was not 
only designed to inculcate the strictest temperance, 
(which is a most necessary virtue to the discharge of 
any important trust that requires the faculties of the 
mind to be in their most vigorous state;) but it may 
be also viewed as an implicit intimation of that per- 
fect command of himself which our High-Priest had 
in the discharging of his office, never forgetting 
what he was about in the smallest instance, being 
always found of quick understanding in the fear of 
the Lord, but by no means a gluttonous man, and 
a wine-bibber, as the hypocritical Pharisees mali- 
ciously affirmed. The prohibition of going out of the 
sanctuary to mourn for the dead, was a prediction, 
that when Jesus Christ should pass into the hea- 
venly sanctuary, he should leave all his sorrows be- 
hind him, and dwell forever in the presence of God, 
where there is fulness of joy. Moreover, it clearly 
signifies, that he was to abolish death and the grave. 
Henceforth let no unmarJy tear be shed for the 
blessed dead who die in the Lord. That most cala- 
mitous event to the eye of sense, is, to the eye of 
faith, the most happy revolution in the lot of the just. 
Nor are the laws about their priestly garments 
less instructive and significant. The curious materi- 
als of the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, 
might represent the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
and the lustre of those divine graces which adorned 
his sacred humanity. The names of the twelve 
tribes he bore first upon his shoulders, and then 
upon his breast-plate, as a memorial before the 
Lord continually, engraven on precious stones, and 
disposed in comely order, is no obscure emblem of 
the saints, whom our High-Priest carries both on 
the shoulders of his Almighty power, and on the 
breast of cordial love, according to the most pathetic 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 57 

prayers of the spouse, " Set me as a seal upon thine 
heart, as a seal upon thine arm." These names were 
engraven on precious stones : for such are all his 
saints, though disallowed of men, and trampled un- 
der foot as naughty pebbles, yet are they chosen of 
God, and precious, and they shall be his in the day 
that he makes up his jewels. No tribe was wanting 
in that most costly breast-plate: for Jesus Christ 
knows them by name whom he redeems, both great 
and small, and there is no respect of persons. They 
were arranged in comely order ; for " he is not the 
God of confusion, but of order, as in all the 
churches of the saints." They were firmly set, and 
not slightly put into the breast-plate : for all the faith- 
ful are so firmly united unto Jesus Christ, that not 
the smallest jewel can be picked from the breast- 
plate of our Aaron by the joint efforts of earth and 
hell. It was not lawful tor the Israelites to enter 
into the most holy place in their own persons, but 
in the person of their high-priest they entered every 
year, as their names were graven on his shoulders 
and heart, and presented unto Jehovah. Even so in 
Jesus Christ, the holy Christian nation who live 
upon the earth, are entered into the holiest of all, 
and even set down with him in heavenly places. 
Shall we mention next the Urim and the Thummim 
that Moses was commanded to put into the breast- 
plate of Aaron ? be it so we cannot certainly deter- 
mine the nature or form of this divine workman- 
ship denoted by such an uncommon phrase, we are 
certain however that in Jesus Christ we have that 
priest who stands up with Urim and Thummim, and 
bears the judgment of Israel before the Lord con- 
tinually. In him are found the clearest hght of wis- 
dom, and the greatest perfection of holiness. In him 
that prayer is fully answered, " Give the king thy 
judgment, O Lord, and the king's son thy righteous- 
ness." The curious girdle signifies the alacrity 
wherewith our High-Priest discharged every part 
of his office ; for girding up the loins of his mind, he 
did with all his might what his hand found. Aaron's 
girdle was indeed of costly texture, gold and purple, 
blue and scarlet. But of Jesus Christ it was prophe- 
sied, " Faithfulness shall be the girdle of his lolns^ 



58 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

and righteousness the gh-dle of his reins." The be- 
loved apostle John beheld him equipt with this 
priestly ornament, when he saw him in the visions 
of God walking in the midst of the seven golden 
candlesticks, clotlied with a long white garment 
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a 
golden girdle. Tlie golden bells suspended around 
the hem of Aaron's under robe, may signify the 
sweet sound of the gospel which is gone into all the 
earth. O greatly blest are the people who hear this 
joyful sound, sweeter to the ear of faith than music 
in its softest strains to the ear of the body, an un- 
doubted sign that our High-Priest is alive though we 
see him not, and lives for ever in the presence of 
Jehovah to make intercession for us. 

The pomegranates that were curiously wrought 
betwixt the bells, and equal to them in number, may 
be an emblem of those fruits of righteousness with 
"which the preaching of the gospel is attended. The 
fair mitre that adorned his head, with the venerable 
inscription on the plate of gold surrounding his 
temples, may put us in mind of Jesus Christ, who is 
the only crowned Priest, and not only holy, but ho- 
liness itself unto the Lord ; yea, he is himself the 
holy Jehovah, and fountain of holiness unto his peo- 
ple. For *' this is the name whereby he shall be 
called. The Lord our righteousness." 

Such were the garments for glory and beauty the 
typical priesthood were commanded to wear, and 
such their mystical signification. Let us come next 
to the manner of their consecration. The Hebrew 
law-giver is directed to bring Aaron and his sons to 
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 
where they were washed with water, arrayed with 
the priestly vestments, anointed with the costly oil, 
which it was death to counterfeit, and lastly, sancti- 
fied by the offering up of peculiar sacrifices, whose 
blood was put upon the extreme parts of their bodies. 
Though every minute circumstance m these vene- 
rable rites may not be capable of application to Je- 
sus Christ, it is sufficient if we can observe a general 
analogy. Aaron was washed in water, to signify that 
he was before polluted ; and Christ was baptized, 
not indeed because he was himself polluted, but as 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 59 

4t became him to fulfil all righteousness. Aaron was 
arrayed with the appointed vestment ; and Christ 
was clothed with the garment of our flesh, curiously- 
wrought in the lower parts of the earth. Aaron was 
anointed with oil, wherewith the inferior priests 
were but sprinkled ; but Christ is anointed with the 
Holy Ghost, which God gives not by measure unto 
him. Aaron was consecrated with the blood of beasts; 
but Christ was sanctified by his own blood, and made 
perfect through sufferings, by which he learned 
obedience, though he was the son of God. 

The different parts of their function is the last 
thing that demands our attention. Every Iiigh-firkst 
taken from among men^ in the manner above de- 
scribed, is ordained for men in things pertaining 
unto God, and to offer both gifts and sacrifices for 
sin. This indeed was the most distinguishing part 
of their office, and fundamental to all other functions 
that are appropriated to them. However, they were 
also appointed to bless the people, to pray for them, 
to instruct them in the knowledge of the divine will, 
to oversee the service of the tabernacle, to blow the 
trumpets both in peace and war, and to judge be- 
twixt the clean and the unclean. But we see Jesus 
our High-Priest giving himself an offering and a sa- 
crifice of sweet-smelling savour, more graceful unto 
God, and more appeasing to his incensed justice, 
than all the victims that ever smoked in the worldly 
sanctuary, or than all the gifts that were ever pre- 
sented there, or than all the incense that ever fumed 
from the golden censer. Put off your robes, ye legal 
priesthood, your work is finished, your office entirely 
superseded. What ye could not do by multiplied ob- 
lations, Jesus Christ has done by one sacrifice. The 
vail is now rent, and the temple now destroyed. The 
shadow has given place to the substance. Perhaps 
it was not without a mystic signification, that Zacha- 
rias, a priest of Aaron's order, and the father of 
John, the harbinger of Christ, was struck dumb 
when officiating in the temple, so that he could not 
speak unto the people when he came forth of the 
holy place. Might it not be a silent omen, that a 
dispensation was now commencing in the days of 
Messiah, wherein none of Aaron's order should open 



60 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

their mouths afiy more to bless the people, saying, 
*' The Lord bless thee, and keep thee : the Lord 
make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious 
unto thee : the Lord lift up his countenance upon 
thee, and give thee peace ?" Jesus is that priest 
whom God hath sent to bless us, who prays for his 
people, whose lips keep knowledge to mstruct us in 
the will of God. Jesus is that priest who oversees 
the service of the tabernacle, being head over alt 
things to the church, which is his body, Jesus is that 
priest who now blows the great trumpet of the gos- 
pel, and who shall descend shortly from heaven with 
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with> 
the trump of God, to gather the congregation of the 
righteous. Then all who have him not for their 
priest to wash and sprinkle them with his hyssop, 
and blood, shall have him for their priest to pro- 
»ounce them utterlv unclean. 



(61) 
IX. THE HISTORY OF JOSFIUA. 



•oooot 



THE name of Joshua and Jesus are scarcely more 
like than their achievements. This captain, so fa- 
mous in the sacred history, was nominated to be 
the successor of Moses, and ordained of God's com- 
mand to this high post, in the presence of all the con- 
gregation of Israel. He received the name of Joshua 
before, when sent to spy out the land, his former name 
being Oshea: and he is the first of the typical per- 
sons who was called by the very name, by which» 
in future ages, a greater Saviour than he was com- 
monly known. Perhaps it was not without its mean- 
ing, that he was the servant, before he was the suc- 
cessor of Moses ; for it might signify, that our Jesus 
was the first to become the servant of the law, be- 
fore he should abolish it. But passing this, let us 
take a more particular notice of the most memora- 
ble passages of that marvellous campaign. 

And the first thing that presents itself to our 
view, is his passing the Jordan, which was miracu- 
lously driven back to afford a safe passage to the 
chosen people. In this river God was pleased for 
the first time to magnify his servant Joshua in the 
sight of all the tribes of Israel ; and in this river it 
pleased God to give the first most public testimony 
to Jesus Christ, when the heavens seemed to open 
at his baptism, and the Holy Ghost descended in the 
likeness of a dove, and a voice from the excellent 
glory proclaimed his high character. But the chief 
thing to be observed here, is the resemblance be- 
twixt the passage of Israel over Jordan into the 
promised land under the conduct of Joshua, and the 
passage of all the redeemed through death into the 
heavenly inheritance. Long had they traversed the 
vast and howling wilderness, the haunt of ravenous 
beasts, and poisonous serpents, where their hearts 
many a time were like to faint for thirst and hun- 
ger; but now the land flowing with milk and honey 
receives them, and their wanderings in the pathless 

F 



62 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

desert are forever ended. Though Jordan overflows 
his banks, their march is not obstructed. O power- 
ful presence of Jehovah ! " The sea saw it and fled, 
and Jordan was driven back." And now they have 
taken their farewell of the weary wilderness, we 
hear no more of the miraculous cloud that conducted 
them, nor of the manna that fed them forty years^ 
Such is the safety of all true Israelites when march- 
ing to their promised rest, under the conduct of the 
Captain of their salvation. Death is the Jordan 
through which they pass from the wilderness of 
this world into the blissful regions of immortality. 
But when they pass through these waters, they shall 
not overflow them ; for he who dries up the waters 
of the sea by his rebuke, will be graciously present 
with them till they gain the safe shore of Imma- 
nuel's land. Then shall the ordinances be discon- 
tinued, and the Bible superseded, which are so ne- 
cessary in their wandering state to support their 
lives; and guide their paths ; as the cloud vanished, 
and the manna staid, when the fine wheat of Canaan 
supphed the Israelites wiih food, according to the 
promise. It is not Moses, but Joshua, who leads 
them through Jordan. Jesus, thou art the only con- 
queror of death. What will they do when they 
come to the swellings of Jordan, who are not under 
thy auspicious conduct? Thanks be to God who 
gives us this victory over death, not through Moses, 
or the law, but through Jesus Christ our Lord. — 
Twelve stones are left by the Hebrew captain as a 
memorial of this great deliverance; and twelve 
apostles were appointed by the Captain of our sal- 
vation to be witnesses of all things which he did» 
both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, 

From the banks of Jordan let us now come to the 
walls of Jericho, the accursed city. Never was town 
or garrison besieged in such a manner before or 
since No mounts are raised, no battering rams are 
applied to the walls, no attempts are made to sap 
the foundations ; but, by the direction of the Lord 
of hosts, the army marches in silent parade round 
the walls. Their martial music, is not the sound of 
their silver trumpets, but of ram-horns blown by 
their priests. Ridiculous, weak, and foolish as this 



THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. G3 

new method of assault might seem to the unbeliev- 
ing sinners of Jericho, they soon found that the 
weakness of God is stronger than men, and that the 
most contemptible means, when God ordains them, 
shall gain their end in spite of all opposition. " What 
ailed ihee, O sea, that thou fleddest ? Jordan, that 
thou wast driven back?" and ye walls of Jerieho, 
that ye fell flat tu the ground, when compassed 
seven days ? It was not owing to the sword of Israel, 
nor even to the sound of the trumpets, but to the 
power of Israel's God, accompanying this feeble 
mean prescribed for the trial of their faith, and proof 
of their obedience. For, O the power of faith! had 
their walls threatened the clouds, and been harder 
than adamant, firmer than brass, down must they 
tumble on the evening of the seventh day. Thus are 
the strong holds of sin, and every high thing that 
exalts itself against the New-Testament Joshua, 
cast down by the mighty weapons of the Cliristian 
-warfare, which are not carnal The feeble voice of 
the gospel, when faithfully preached though not 
with a silver sound, or with excellency of speech 
shall be mighty through God to triumph over all 
opposition : so it was in the days of the apostles ; so 
it has been in every distant age ; and so it shall be 
till the victory is complete. Thus, Babylon, shall 
thy proud towers be levelled with the ground, 
though seemingly fearless of assaults. *' For tlie 
day of the Lord shall be on every high wall, and on 
every one that is proud and lifted up." Though the 
kings of the earth should give their strength to the 
beast, our Joshua shall prevail, by the foolishness 
of preaching, and the sound of the gospel-trumpet; 
and at the appointed time the strong lunged angel 
shall cry, Babylon the great is fallen^ is fallen. 

The saving of Rahab and her household is the 
next remarkable occurrence. Who would have ex- 
pected to find in this city of destruction even a 
strong believer, whose faith should be celebrated 
by one apostle, and her works by another ? and who 
should have also the honour to make one of that 
illustrious hue from whence the Messias should arise ? 
But so it was. Though once a notorious sinner, and 
called Rahab the harlot to this day ; yet she was a 



54 TYPICAL PERSONS; Book I. 

believer of the promise that God made to Israel, 
and proved by her works that her faith was genu- 
ine : for protecting the messengers of Joshua, at the 
hazard of her life, she preferred the interests of 
the church of God to those of, her country, which 
she knew very well was impossible to be saved. — 
Though we can by no means justify the dissimula- 
tion by which she saved the spies from the purse- 
vants of the king of Jericho ; yet as God has forgiven 
those blameable parts of her conduct, of which she 
has long since truly repented. Well does Joshua 
answer his name, in saving not the race of Israel 
only, but Rahab, thoug:h a cursed Canaanite, with 
all her household, though sinners of the Gentiles. 
Was it not a dark prelude of Jesus Christ, our better 
Joshua, his saving the Gentile world from the wrath 
to come, as well as the preserved of Jacob ^ Might 
it not portend, that publicans and harlots, and such 
notorious sinners, should be received among the first 
into his heavenly kingdom ? and that the harlot Gen- 
tiles, who formerly were serving divers lusts, and 
living in the most abominable idolatries, should be 
incorporated into the holy society of the church, and 
espoused as a chaste bride to Jesus Christ, as Rahab 
became a proselyte to the Jewish religion, and the 
wife of Naasson, an illustrious prince in the chief of 
their tribes? Perhaps the scarlet thread, which, at 
the direction of the spies, she hung forth of the win- 
dow, as a discriminating signal, by which all under 
her roof were exempted from the dismal desolation ; 
perhaps, I say, it might be an intimation, though a 
very obscure one, that the shedding of Christ's red 
blood should prove the means of salvation to the 
Gentile world, and of making peace betwixt the Jews 
and them, who were formerly at variance, and har- 
boured mutual hatred. Red was the colour of salvation 
to Israel in Egypt, when the sprinkling their doors 
with blood protected them from the destroying an- 
gel's sword ; and red is the colour of salvation to Ra- 
hab in Canaan, when the hanging a scarlet thread 
over her windows was her security from the de- 
stroying sword of Israel. Happy they who have the 
blood of Christ upon them, not /or destruction, (as 
the Jews who murdered him, and imprecated this 



THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA. 05- 

dreadful vengeance on themselves,) but jfh?' salva- 
tion, (as all them who believe.) Rahab's safety was 
confirmed by the oath of men, but theirs by the 
oath of God, tor whom it is impossible to lie. Destruc- 
tion approaches not these doors, death enters not 
these windows where the blood of Christ is found. 

In vain did the kings of Canaan conspire to oppose 
the victorious Joshua after the destruction of Jericho ; 
for at last he bids his captains set their feet upon 
the necks of their hostile princes, in token of full 
conquest. Nor was it strange he should be able 
to do this, when the very heavens befriended him, 
by casting down prodigious hail-stones to kill his fly- 
ing enemies; and their most glorious luminaries, the 
sun and moon, w^ere obedient to his voice, and stood 
still in their habitation, till the vengeance written 
was executed upon the devoted nations. Such is that 
complete victory over all the enemies of God and 
his people, which he shall gain who goes forth 
conquering and to conquer. It is the distinguished 
honour of all his faithful soldiers to tread upon the 
devil, the world, and the lusts of the flesh. These 
are the dragons and the lions which they trample 
under their feet ; these are the kings they bind with 
chains; these are the nations they shall dash in 
shivers as a potter's vessel with a rod of iron. And 
a time is coming when the upright shall have do- 
minion over the wicked; for so is his will whom not 
only the sun and moon, but all the numerous hosts 
of heaven and earth obey. 

At last the favoured nation of the Jews are brought 
into their promised rest, under the conduct of their 
valianc general. He puts them in quiet possession of 
that happy country which he had before spied out 
for them. This Moses could not do. So Jesus Christ 
hath introduced us, not into a temporal rest, like 
thine, O Joshua, but into a spiritual and eternal rest» 
an incorruptible and undeiiled inheritance, which 
the law could not do, having become weak through 
the flesh. 



f2 



iSG) 



X. THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 

LET us now glance at the prodigious feats of 
Samson, that mighiy and renowned judge of Israel, 
whose birth, life and death, were all so extraordi- 
nary, that, as some suppose, the fabulous tales of 
Hercules, so famous in Greece, are but this true 
history metamorphosed, and dashed with fiction. 
It may indeed seem odd to insert a person, whose 
vices were so glaring and unmanly, in the catalogue 
of the illustrious types of Jesus Christ ; for the hints 
of his religious and saintly disposition in the history 
of the judges, are so dubious and sparing, that one 
would be tempted to suspect whether he was a saint 
at all. But the honourable character, he was vested 
with by God, and the signal deliverances of his peo- 
ple he was enabled to achieve, atford us more than 
a presumption that he was not wholly a stranger 
to the fear of the Lord. Above all, his reputation 
as a believer is firmly established by a New-Testa- 
ment writer, who ranks him among the eminent 
worthies who " lived and died in faith, who by faith 
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, stopt the mouths of lions, quenched the 
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword; out 
of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in 
fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens." 
Be it so, that, on account of the criminal weakness 
of his mind, which wrought his own destruction, he 
is rather a figure of the sinner ; yet if we consider 
the prodigious strength of his body, which wrought 
salvation in Israel, he is justly esteemed a figure of 
the Saviour. 

The circumstances of his birth so much resemble 
those of Jesus Christ's, that we can scarcely pass 
them over in silence. Both Jesus Christ and he were 
conceived in an extraordinary manner beside the 
course of nature ; their birth, and future importance, 
were declared, by a messenger from the invisible 
world, to their female parents, that they should be 



THE HISTORY OF SAMSON. 6/ 

Nazarites unto God, and sa\iours of Israel. Only 
whereas Samson's mother was but a barren spouse, 
the mother of Jesus was an unspotted virgin. The 
angel that appeared to Manoah's wife refused to tell 
his name when importuned ; but the angel who ap- 
peared to the wife of Joseph, declared who he was 
without being asked. — Samson was but a legal Na- 
zarite from the womb, and many a time he seems 
to have acted a part very unworthy of such a sacred 
name ; but Jesus Christ was that in substance, which 
Samson, and other Nazarites, were only in shadow ; 
*' holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, 
purer than snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy in 
body than rubies, his polishing was of sapphire." 
He was, during his whole Ufe, dedicated to the ser- 
vice of God, abstracted from the affairs of the world, 
denied to the gratifications of sense, and pure from 
all uncleanness. And, lastly, that the resemblance 
betwixt him and that religious order might be more 
complete, whereas, at the expiring of their vow, 
they were obliged, by the divine law, to offer as 
many sacnfices as though they had been lepers, 
even though they had fully complied with all their 
restrictions; so Jesus Christ, that he might fully pay 
his vow to the mighty God of Jacob, offered himself 
a sacrifice, though he had no sin of his own to be 
expiated. And perhaps it is more than a conjecture, 
that his education in the village of Nazareth, which 
occasioned his being called a Nazarene, in the com- 
mon ^style of his country, was intended, in the secret 
providence of God, to be an intimation to all, that he 
was the true Nazarene in whom the ancient laws 
of Nazariteship were to receive their end i. and thus, 
according to the holy evangelist, it was fulfilled that 
is written in the prophets, " He shall be called a 
Nazarene." 

We shall now come to take notice of some of the 
most singular actions of this illustrious Danite, which 
are as uncommon as his extraordinary birth pre- 
saged. Whether his marriage with a Philistine was 
any dark figure of the calling of the Gentiles, I will 
not determine. But his encounter with the young 
lion that roared against him, when he had no defen- 
sive weapon in his hand, in which he was victorious, 



68 TYPICAL PERSONS* Book U 

(a prelude of his future victories,) seems not unlike 
that first prelusive battle our Redeemer had with 
the roaring lion of hell, who met him in the wilder-^ 
ness, and roared against him by three most hideous 
temptations, but was totally routed and overcome by 
the lion of the tribe of Judah. 

Hail Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, 
Queller of Satan, on thy glorious work 
Now enter and begin to save mankind. 

MiLTOJf. 

And whereas the dead carcase of the lion is re-» 
corded to have become an hive of bees, who, by 
some strange instinct, chose here to make their 
honey, this may at least put us in mind what are the 
happy effects of the conquests of our Redeemer. 
The law roared against him by its threatenings. but 
he overcome it by his complete satisfaction. Death 
roared against him, and thought to swallow him ; 
but, O death, he was thy plague. Be not afraid of 
the condemning law, ye that believe in the Son of 
God, tremble not at the thoughts of death. These 
roaring lions are quelled by your Redeemer, who 
has seen the travail of his soul, and is satisfied, as 
Samson did eat of the honey which he found in the 
carcase, and who also invites his people to partake 
■with him in his repast as it is said, '* Eat ye that 
which is good, and let your soul delight itself In fat- 
ness." — To have beheld a flight of eagles alighted 
on the carrion; would have been no uncommon oc- 
currence ; for " where the carcase is, there will the 
eagles be gathered together." — But for bees to take 
up their quarters in a dead carcase, and there to 
deposite their ;deiicious stores, is so unlike the na- 
tural disposition of these clean and prudent insects, 
as to afford the matter of that famous riddle which 
this great champion propounded to his friends on 
occasion of this extraordinary adventure, and which 
they were not able to guess the meaning of, till, ac- 
cording to the proverb then used, they ploughed 
with his heifer. That swarms of Christians should 
be associated together, and live by the death of Je- 
sus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whose 



THK HISTORY OF SAMSON. 69 

flesh is meat indeed ; that glory should come to us 
by his dishonour, riches by his poverty, strength by 
his weakness, life by his death ; that the most un- 
likely means should bring about the most glorious 
and beneficial ends; that our most terrible enemies 
should be meat for us ; that what promises nothing 
but stench" and putrefaction, should yield sweet com- 
fort and refreshment ; these are the things w^hich 
by the gospel are declared unto us. Here Samson, 
thy riddle unfolds itself which none can understand 
aright who plough not with God's heifer, that is, the 
Spirit of God, who searcheth all things, and reveals 
what the natural man receiveth not nor knows. 

It was strange the Israelites did not join together 
tinder such a redoubted champion to shake off the 
shameful yoke of the Philistines. But they were so 
lost to all sense of shame and gratitude, as to treat 
the deliverer of their country like the betrayer of 
it. They bind (by his own consent) their judge and 
avenger, and traiterously deliver him up to their 
tyrants and oppressors. But their joy was short in 
their prisoner. For bursting their banas, and casting 
away their cords, with a very contemptible weapon, 
he deals death and desolation at every blow, and 
makes a most terrible carnage. For the Spirit of 
the Lord came upon him, and stung his arm with 
more than mortal vigour. And the promise was 
literally fulfilled, " That one should chase a thou- 
sand." Even so, the avenger of the human race, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, was basely delivered up by his 
own countrynien, who had received many favours 
from him, into the hands of the Gentiles. But with- 
out his consent, Judas, with all his rout, could not 
have bound him. O Saviour of the world ! thy love 
to men, and obedience to God, were the invisible 
but mighty cords that held thee fast. These, and 
not the nails that transfixed thy hands and feet, hin- 
dered thee to save thyself, and' come down from the 
cross. But the triumphing of the wicked was short; 
for when they vainly imagined they had him sure 
and safe fastened on a cross, and laid in the grave, 
he starts up a dreadful adversary, the cords of death 
are not able to hold hini ; out of weakness he is 
made strong; and though all nations compassed 



70 TYPICAL PERSONS. Buck 1 

him, yet in the name of the Lord he did destroy 
them. And how contemptible was the instrument 
he used in this mighty work! As when Samson, 
who wanted not spears and swords, was directed 
to use no other weapon bat the jaw bone of an ass: 
so Jesus Christ, who could have commanded the 
secular arm to spread the conquests of his gospel, 
or have ordained strength out of the mouths of elo- 
quent orators, or profound philosophers ; yet chose 
contemptible fishermen, and perfected praise out of! 
the mouths of babes and sucklings. 

I might mention, in the next place, his marvellous 
escape from Gaza, where he was watched all night 
by his enemies, but he eluded their vigilance, and ! 
unhinging their massy gates, he took away upon< 
his shoulders part of the battlements of that strong 
cityj for they were not the Lord's, and carried them 
•to the top of an hill, the enemies having no power 
either to resist or to pursue. An emblem of our 
mighty Saviour sleeping in the chamber of the grave 
•where he was watched by the jealous Scribes and 
Pharisees who vainly imagined to hinder his resur- 
rection. But when they least expected he arose, he 
burst the gates of death, and leading captivity cap- 
tive, he ascended on high. 

But the manner in which he died is perhaps what 
most entitles him to be the type of Jesus Christ who, 
like Samson, was betrayed and sold by a pretended 
friend, bound, blindfolded, insulted, and made his ' 
^rave with the wicked. Like Samson, he willingly 
resigned his breath ; but by his death, death was 
abolished, principalities and powers were spoiled, 
and, O ye enemies of salvation, destructions have 
a perpetual end. Thy death, O Jesus, is our life, and 
by thy cross we triumph over these wicked lusts 
that have shorn the locks of our strengtli, have 
bound us with fetters of iron, have put out the eyes 
of our mind, and made us dwell in darkness, and toil 
at the abhorred drudgery of the devil. Happy they 
•who are avenged of these cruel enemies, though like 
thee, O Samson, they should die with thera. 



(71) 
XI. THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 



•00000' 



THERE is scarcely a more amiable and consum- 
ate character to be found in the compass of sacred 
liistory than David's^ notwithstanding some blemishes 
with which is is tarnished. What mouth is not 
opened in the praises of this good king, the first of 
the kind that swayed the Jewish sceptre, who is 
iionoured to be the penman of these devout and rap- 
turous compositions styled the Psalms^ where the 
graces of poetry strive with the beauties of holiness, 
and which are justly esteemed the treasure of the 
world, and a complete system of revelation in minia- 
cure ? When we consider that fervent devotion, that 
submission to the divine will, that delight in God's 
law, and zeal for his worship, that spirit of forgive- 
less in the case of personal injuries, and the other 
lovely graces that breathe through all his writings 
and history, we must certainly allow him to have- 
Deen a saint of the first magnitude. But it is chiefly 
!:o be observed, to the honour of this illustrious king 
50 much talked of in the Bible, that he was at once 
1 prophet, a progenitor, and a figure of the Messiah. 
I'he last particular is so evident from innumerable 
Dlaces, where Da\ad and his Lord exchange not 
Dnly words and speeches, but also names, that tak- 
ng for granted this obvious truth, we shall briefly 
lint at the most remarkable parallels betwixt them. 

Perhaps his very name David, which signifies 
beloved may intimate, that Christ his antitype should 
)e the beloved of God and of men. But it is certain 
:he place of his birth was always held to be the 
?ame where Christ should be born. Might not this 
3e one reason why David (who was a prophet, and 
snew that himself was a type of Christ, and that 
ie should be born in the same village) discovered 
such a fondness for Bethlehem, as to be seized with 
ardent longing even for a draught of v/ater from 
ts well? Much was this little village aggrandized, 
>y giving birth to king David, but more by giving 



72 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

birth to Jesus Christ: for so the prophet sings-; 
" But thou Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be 
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee 
shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler of 
Israel, whose goings forth have been of old from 
everlasting." 

From the place of his birth let us come to the 
qualifications of his persons both in body and mind. 
The ruddiness of his complexion is very particularly 
noticed by the sacred historian. And besides the 
comeliness of his person, his prudence and valour 
recommended him at court, when he had no higher 
title than the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. But 
above all, his character is crowned by the most am- 
ple commendation God was pleased to give him 
when he removed Saul, " I have found a man after 
mine own heart, that shall fulfil all my will." And 
where shall these illustrious endowments be found 
in their highest perfection but in the person of the 
Son of David, who is white and ruddy, the chiefest 
among ten thousand, fairer than the children of men, 
the mighty God, the prudent servant of the Lord, 
and lastly, who came to do thy will^ O God, thy lam} 
IV as in the inidst of his heart f 

Let us next compare their sufferings, and we shall 
find a surprising resemblance. We might, first, take 
notice of his lurking in obscurity for a long time in 
his father's house, where he tended the flocks of 
sheep, before he was a shepherd of men. But though 
the like obscurity was the fate of Jesus Christ for 
a long track of years, when he dv»elt in his father's 
house, perhaps it is not so proper to mention this 
particular under the head of David's afflictions ; for 
we can scarce doubt but it was the most happy 
period of his life, when he followed the ewes with 
young. From the time he began to attract the ob- 
servation of the world, what was the greatest part 
of his life but a continual war ? His own brother 
made him a very surly speech, to deter him from 
his first public adventure in encountering Goliath^ 
insinuating, that the sole motive he had in visiting 
the camp at that juncture, was pride and naughti- 
ness of heart. Whicli puts us in mind of the coarse 
reception our gracious Redeemer met with from 



THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 73 

his brethren according to the flesh, who received 
him not, but loaded him with the most odious im- 
putations, and virulent reproaches, and always put 
the worst constructions upon his words and actions. 
We are also told, that some of his nearest relations 
believed not on him.— And as to the persecutions 
he endured under the tyrant reign of Saul, (which 
were the occasion of many sweet psalms, trans- 
mitted even to our times,) the likeness betwixt them 
and those of Jesus Christ, under the tyrant reign of 
Herod, is greater than one would think at first view. 
David's life is sought after by his own king ; and 
what was the quarrel ? It was the fear that David 
would succeed to the crown, as was revealed to the 
prophet Samuel : so Jesus Christ is persecuted by 
Herod king of Judah, from a foohsh supposition, 
that he could elude the high decree of heaven, and 
falsify the scriptures of the prophets. In David's 
quarrel the innocent priests in Nob were cruelly 
butchered, and the innocent babes in Bethlehem in 
the cause of Jesus Christ. Cursed be their anga\ 
for it was cruel. But both the bloody tyrants shared 
the same success ; for as all attempts to seize the 
person of David were vain, so Herod's bloody plot 
against the life of Christ proved abortive. But when 
we are remembering David and all his afflictions, 
we must not forget that very singular one which 
befel him, when he was compelled, by an unnatural 
son, and rebellious subjects, to fly from his royal 
city, and with his sorrowful friends passed over the 
brook Kidron in a melancholy plight. It was over 
this same brook the Son and Lord of David passed 
to that fatal garden where he was apprehended, in 
company with his sorrowful apostles. And what was 
no small addition to David's distress, his own famihar 
friend, in whom he confided, and servant that ate of 
his bread, played the traitor, and lifted up his heel 
against him. A circumstance which was not wanting 
in the case of Jesus Christ, betrayed by one of his 
apostles. Who know^s not that the same scriptures 
are applied to Judas in the New Testament, thai 
are in the Old spoken of Ahithophel ? Let his habi- 
tatioii be desolate, and let another take his office. It 
is true, the Son of David knew from the beginning 

G 



74 TYPICAL PERSONS* Book^I. 

•who should betray him, which David knew not : but 
in other respects the parallel is very near; for both 
these cursed traitors were alike in their former cha- 
racter and trust, alike in their execrable villainy, and 
alike in their tragical end. 

Having enumerated some of David's typical af- 
flictions, let us come to his renowned achievements 
both in war and peace, wherein also he seems to 
have been designed an emblem of the same glorious 
Person. His victory over that proud insulting Philis- 
tine who defied the armies of the living God, is none 
of the least exploits for which he stands recorded 
in the rolls of fame. He heard his blasphemous 
railing ; he saw the unmanly terror of the Israelites, 
who all declined the single combat of this vain 
boaster; he was informed of the great rewards the 
victor should receive from the king, and not in the 
least intimidated by his fierce appearance; he re- 
solves to accept the challenge in the name of the 
insulted God of Israel. Armed with no weapons but 
his stafT and sling, he lays the vaunting warriour pros- 
trate in death, adding withal this indignity to his 
huge corpse, to sever his head from the body with 
his own sword. — Let the vaunting Goliah be an em- 
blem of the devil, who has the power of death. A 
great reward is proposed to the person who shall 
encounter and overcome this formidable enemy, by 
the King of heaven No man, no angel, dared the 
arduous enterprise. But Jesus Christ descending to 
visit his brethren, and see our camp, and moved 
>vith a becoming zeal for the glory of God, and the 
salvation of the human race, and for the joy that was 
set before him, he prepares himself for the mortal 
combat. His brethren indeed despised him, and used 
him rudely, but he was not deterred from his merci- 
ful design. He borrowed no armour from us, for he 
only partook of our infirm fleshly nature : but by 
Ins' own strength and wisdom he obtained the vic- 
tory with the staff of his cross; a most unlikely 
weapon ! for God was his shield and glory, and the 
lifter up of his head. " by death/' which was Hke 
the devil's sword, ** he destroyed him that had the 
power of death :" and the saying of the prophet is 
fulfilled, " I will save them by the Lord their God, 



THE HISTORY OF DAVID. 75 

and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor 
by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen." We 
might also observe, how his taking* the strong-hold 
of Zion from the Jebusites might be an emblem of 
Christ his conquering the Gentile church. His de- 
siring to find a place for the God of Jacob to rest in, 
may be considered in the same light. This, O Sa- 
viour, was thy glorious design in visiting our regions 
of mortality, to find a place of rest among the sin- 
ful race of men, for that God whose throne is the 
highest heaven, and his footstool the earth — to find 
not a shadowy rest upon an earthly mountain, or in 
a material structure, but a real, a glorious, an ever- 
lasting rest in the temple of thy body the church, 
that God the Lord might dwell for ever among them. 

Great was the glory to which the king of Israel 
•was raised from small beginnings ; and the prudence 
of his administration when he was lifted out of the 
dust proved him not to have been unworthy of such 
high dignity. It is true, we must allow him to have 
committed no small errors in some particiilar acts 
of governments ; but as to the main of his conduct, 
he received this honourable testimony, " He fed 
them according to the integrity of his heart, and 
guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." Even 
so the humble Saviour, who might truly say, *' Mine 
heart is not haughty, O Lord, neither are mine eyes 
lofty," was exalted from his state of low debase- 
ment to the highest pinnacle of glory, to become not 
only the head of his church, but of the Heathen, and 
the people who knew him not are made to serve his 
will. But in this he far excels the type, that the an- 
nals of his reign are not stained with any the smallest 
blots, and " of the increase of his government and 
peace there shall be no end." 

We shall but mention, in the last place, the cove- 
nant of royalty which God was pleased to make with 
David and his seed for ever; an emblem of that 
covenant which God hath made with Christ as the 
representative of his chosen people. This covenant, 
O David, was thy consolation in all thy family-trials, 
and under the melancholy apprehensions of thy 
successor's apostacy. O may it also be our consola- 
tion, and let all the children of Zion be joyful in their 
King. 



(?^6) 



Xil. THE HISTORY OF SOLOMOX. 

00000 - ' 

THE next illustrious personage we shall mention, 
is Solomon the son of David ; the wise, wealthy, 
magnificent, and peaceful monarch of Jerusalem, 
who, like his father, was honoured to be the penman 
of a very considerable and useful part of the mspired 
writings, by which he may be justly reckoned to 
have made abundant compensation to the church 
of God, for the great offence he was left to give 
to all good men, by the sad apostacy of his advanced 
years. That he was a figure of the Messiah, seems 
evident ivoui what God said concerning him by the 
prophet Nathan, which is applied by a New-Testa- 
ment writei to Jesus Christ, — ** I will be to him a 
Father, and he shall be to me a Son ;" — from what 
David said in the seventy-second psalm; — and 
from the most excellent Song of songs composed by 
Solomon, not concerning himself, but Jesus Christ, 
the glorious Bridegroom of the church, under a bor- 
rowed name. Nor is it difficult to find out several 
things in Solomon's character and history that 
greatly resemble the character and history of a far 
greater Person than he. 

We shall first, Take notice of that wisdom and 
sagacity for which he was so much celebrated. It 
pieced God to confer upon this beloved king a very 
uncommon measure of intellectual endowments, to 
fit him for discharging the high office to which he 
was raised He asked wisdom from God as the best 
and most perfect gift : nor did he ask in vain ; for 
God gave him a wise and understanding heart, as 
never monarch had before. His wisdom far excelled 
that of the most renowned sages of his time. The 
world of nature was all his own. He spake of plants 
and animals from the triumphant cedar down to the 
humble moss, and from the soaring eagle to the 
creeping insect. As a scholar no question was too 
hard for him to resolve, and as a judge no cause too 
intricate to decide. The wisdom of his proverbial 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 7^7 

sayings, and the sublimity of his poetical composi- 
tions* may be most certainly inferred from those 
specimens which have reached our times. He was 
not only revered as the oracle of his country, but 
even princes neighbouring and remote, courted his 
friendship, and were ambitious of his acquaintance. 
His very servants that ministered unto him, were 
pronounced happy by a great queen, who, fired with 
the love of wisdom, undertook a large and expen- 
sive journey, leaving for a time the delights of her 
court, and the cares of state, to pay him a visit of 
whom she had heard so much, though still, as she 
afterwards acknowledged, the half had not been told 
her: therefore shall she rise up in judgment against 
the men in every generation, who refuse to hear the 
wisdom » and receive the instruction of a greater than 
Solomon, who is the wisdom of God itself, and in 
whom are hid treasures, all treasures of wisdom 
and knowledge, who instead of waiting till we come 
to seek him, has come from heaven to us, and cries 
in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of 
the gates, in the city he uttereth his words, *' How 
long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and 
fools hate knowledge? turn you at my reproof.'* 
What was thy wisdom, Solomon, to his on whom, 
as the prophet testifies, the Spirit of the Lord did 
rest, the Spirit of wisdom, counsel, and knowledge, 
to make him of quick understanding in the fear of 
the Lord. Admire we the vast extent of Solomon's 
erudition ? There is no creature that is not manifest 
in the sight of Jesus Christ from the greatest unto the 
least. It is recorded of him that with the utmost fa- 
cility he answered the hard questions that were put 
to him ? Neither can the wisdom of Jesus Christ be 
nonplussed to answer the most puzzling query, when 
that most difficult of any has been resolved by him, 
** Wherewith shall a guilty sinner come before the 
Lord? and how shall he bow himself before the high 
God?" Was Solomon an acute penetrating judge, 
judging his people with righteousness, and his poor 
with judgment ? Of Christ it was declared, " He 
shall not judge after the seeing of his eyes, nor re- 
prove after the hearing of his ears; but with righ- 
teousness shall he iude:e the noon and reorove witli 



Y8 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book i. 

equity for the meek of the earth." He discerns at 
first view a Nathaniel and a Judas, and will separate 
the rigliteous and the wicked. And what afe the 
wise speeches of Solomon to those of Jesus Christ, 
by whose Spirit the whole scriptures were dictated, 
and Solomon himself inspired ? 

To the wisdom let us subjoin the wealth of Solo- 
mon, who made even silver in Jerusalem as the 
stones of the street. But how shall this agree to our 
Lord Jesus, who was himself a poor man, without a 
fixed dwelling-place, and whose followers most 
generally, are the poor among men? True indeed 
he neither possessed the riches of the world him- 
self, nor can his subjects boast that they have 
amassed huge quantities of white and yellow earth, 
called silver and gold : yet are thy riches. Lord Je- 
sus, unsearchable ; eternity itself is too short to count 
them. The arithmetic of angels would not be able to 
cast up the mighty sum. These riches hast thou 
purchased by thy poverty ; and what is said of 
money, wc still more truly affirm of thy inexhausti- 
ble fulness, ** It answers all things." If Solomon 
made silver as the stones, Jesus Christ renders the 
most admirable vanities of the world but loss and 
dung, O the immense value of the riches of Christ, of 
whom it is said in the prophet, " For brass I will bring 
gold, for iron silver, for wood brass, and for stones 
iron." Even such amazing wealth is scarcely fit to 
be an emblem of the true riches : for a New Testa- 
ment writer rises in the description, and talks of a 
city whose habitations are kings, whose walls are 
jasper, whose gates are pearls, whose streets are 
paved with gold ? Here that precious metal on which 
the men of the world set their hearts, is trodden with 
the feet. How diminutive is the splendour of earthly 
courts ! how despicable is a Solomon, though seated 
on his ivory throne, in comparison of such stupen- 
dous magnificence, which never indeed existed in 
the world of nature, but has a true, though spiritual 
existence in the kingdom of Jesus Christ ! To con- 
clude then, as the wisdom of Solomon was but folly 
to the wisdom of Jesus Christ ; so, in comparison of 
i\is riches, his wealth was poverty. 

From his wisdom and wealth, let us come to the 



THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON. 79 

extent of his dominion, which we are told was very 
wide. And if in the multitude of people is the king's 
honour, the King Messiah equals and far excels the 
king of Israel. What was it to reign over all king- 
doms from the Euphrates to the midland sea, and to 
the corner of Egypt, to his extensive sway whose 
kingdom rules over all ? 

But w^hat was a most singular recommendation of 
Solomon's happy reign, for the most part it was not 
disturbed either with civil jars or foreign war ; for, 
as his name imported, he was a man of rest, and, 
except towards the latter end of his days, his sub- 
jects enjoyed the most profound tranquillity. This 
was designed to be a faint representation of the go- 
vernment of the Prince of peace, whose gospel is a 
doctrine which, if sincerely beheved, effectually re- 
<:onciles men to God and one another. Therefore 
the ancient prophets speaking in these peaceful 
times when the Messiah should reign, have collected 
the most striking and amiable images of peace that 
can well be conceived. They talk of nations beating 
their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into 
pruning hooks ;— that arts of death and mutual de- 
struction shall no more be learned as an useful 
science; — that the most ravenous beasts shall be as 
tame as those with which mankind are most fami- 
liar ;— that the most invenomed serpent shall cease 
to be pernicious ; — that bows and swords, and such 
like instruments of death, shall cease out of the 
earth, and the odious din of battle shall be heard no 
more. If now these charming prophecies have not 
received their full accomplishment, our wars and 
lightings, O Prince of Peace ! are not the native re- 
sult of the gospel, but they come from the lusts that 
war in our members. To this original may they all 
be traced. O shame to men who are called by the 
Christian name, to act a part so unlike their sacred 
profession, by waging horrid wars with one another, 
and rejoicing in mutual slaughter, make their swords 
drunk with blood ! Nevertheless we, accor^g to 
his promise, expect more happy times, wlren the 
import of the predictions shall be' more fully known, 
and of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end, For here indeed the order is 



^ TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

inverted in Solomon and his antitype, Whereas the 
beginning of Solomon's administration was the most 
peaceable part of it, the latter end of the Messiah's 
government shall be the most serene and happy 
period. 

To pass over the foreign match of the Israelitish 
monarch, which some have supposed a prelude of 
calling the Gentile church to the fellowship of Jesus 
Christ ; we shall only take notice of the magnifi- 
cence of Solomon's building. He was pitched upon 
by the great God to build an house for his name ; 
and, under his direction, that sacred structure was 
reared at an immense charge. The workmen were 
foreigners, and many of the materials fetched from 
abroad. The stones being all prepared and fitted to 
each other before-hand, the noise of hammers was 
not heard as the building advanced. Who knows 
not that the ancient temple was a figure of the 
church which is his body ? Christ Jesus is the true 
Solomon, who builds this holy and beautiful house, 
not with dead, but with living stones, which are 
hewed by the law, and polished by the gospel ; and 
being thus fitly framed, they become a spiritual build- 
ing, and grow into an holy temple in the Lord. 
Even sinners of the Gentiles are employed in this 
honourable work of building up the church, and of 
them it may be said, '* Ye are God's building." The 
doctrine of the apostles and prophets is the founda- 
tion, and Jesus Christ himself the chief corner-stone. 



( 81 ) 



XUI. THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 

THE comparison which our Lord was pleased to 
make of himself and the prophet Jonah, when an 
evil and adulterous generation sought after a sign 
from heaven, forbids us to pass over in silence this 
short but strange history, which is doubtless one of 
these passages in the Old Testament to which the 
apostle refers, when he speaks of Christ's dying 
for our sins, according to the scriptures, and being 
buried and rising again the third day ; according to 
the scriptures : '* For as Jonas was three days and 
three nights in the whale's belly, so was the Son of 
man three days and three nights in the heart of the 
earth." 

That we may have the fuller view of the resem- 
blance» let us briefly recollect what we are told of 
this prophet in the book denominated from him. 
He is charged with a commission by the great God 
to denounce the vengeance of Heaven against the 
great and sinful city Nineveh, the metropolis of the 
mighty Assyrian empire. This is the first time we 
read of a prophet sent to reform a Gentile nation, 
and doubtless was a prelude of his granting to the 
Gentiles in future times repentance unto life. It was 
God who commanded, and the prophet ought to 
have been all submission. But as Simon the son of 
Jonas long after disputed the command of God 
when he was sent for the first time to preach unto 
the Gentiles ; so Jonas, though a prophet of the 
Lord, who ought to have known better things, re- 
solves to play the fugitive, and, like Cain, to go 
out from the presence of the Lord, and be an extle 
from the church where God was worshipped, ex- 
pecting to hear no more such troublesome orders 
from above, if he was once on some foreign ground. 
He finds at Joppa a ship bound for Tarshish, and 
thinking it a fair opportunity of carrying his scheme 
into execution, he enters himself a passenger. But, 
ye mariners, little did you think what a dangerous 



32 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

cargo you were taking on board ; for soon a tempest 
from the Lord embroils the ocean, and death sits 
threatening on every wave. Every mariner betakes 
himself to his prayers : but Jonas the cause of the 
storm, is fast asleep. He is seasonably reproved by 
the master of the ship for his untimely security, and 
earnestly invited to join with them in calling also 
upon his God. A good advice to be sure : but, alas, 
Jonah's heart condemned him, and though his God 
was the God of gods, he had little ground to hope 
that his prayer would be heard. Alas ! the guilty 
person was most unfit to become a mediator for the 
rest of the crew. They rightly judged, that this 
preternatural storm was sent by angry Heaven to 
punish some notorious offender ; it was put into their 
hearts to find out by lot who he was. And, O sur- 
prising! a professor of the true religion, and a 
prophet of the Lord, is singled out, in a crew of 
heathen sailors, as the greatest sinner in the ship. 
His iniquity, which he thought to have kept a pro- 
found secret, is revealed in the most public manner, 
and himself is obliged to confess his crime at large, 
that being a servant and a prophet of the God who 
made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the dry 
land, he had presumed to fly his presence, and diso- 
bey his positive command. What shall they do? 
Their case seems desperate. They ask his counsel 
whom they now esteemed a prophet. And, though 
at the expence of his life, he gives them the best di- 
rection could be thought of,— to cast himself forth 
into the sea. But though he was willing to die, the 
good natured mariners were not willing to put him 
to death, till they had exerted their utmost efforts 
to save themselves and him. Till at last they found 
their labour in vain» and with great reluctance they 
heaved overboard the guilty prophet, having first 
fervently deprecated the guilt of his blood. And now 
at last the tempest ceased to roar, and the sea laid 
aside its rage, when the criminal they demanded 
was surrendered to the ocean ; which had such a 
good effect upon the mariners, as, it is hoped, they 
proved sincere worshippers of the true God, whom 
the winds and seas obey. Who would expect to hear 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 83 

of Jonas any more ! but, strange to say ! a huge fish, 
"which the Creator had commanded to be ready, re- 
ceives the astonished prophet in its belly, where he 
lives three days and three nights, being supported 
by an almighty power. In this dreary mansion he 
finds time to meditate his past folly, and cry unto 
the Lord in the language of sincere repentance. And 
after he had been sufficiently punished, the obedi- 
ent fish returns him safe and sound on the dry land 
on the third day. The commission is renewed ; and, 
wiser than before, he obeys, goes to Nineveh, and 
preaches the doctrine of repentance, threatens 
them with destruction in forty days. The men of 
Nineveh repent, and God also delays to strike the 
blow, and repented him of the evil. 

But what we intend chiefly to observe in the whole 
of this uncommon transaction ; a greater than Jonas 
is here pointed forth in his death, burial, resurrec- 
tion, and preaching to the Gentiles. 

The casting forth of Jonah into the sea bears no 
small resemblance to the death of Christ, though 
in some circumstances there is a considerable differ- 
ence : for the prophet Jonah was, for his own offen- 
ces, delivered into the hands of mariners, who, with- 
out being guilty of murder, or thirst after his blood, 
did, with great reluctance, throw him overboard for 
their own preservation, earnestly beseeching that 
his blood might not be laid unto their charge ; bat 
Jesus Christ being delivered, not for his own, but 
our offences, unto the Jews and Gentiles, was taken, 
crucified, and slain with wicked hands, while his 
bloody murderers imprecated the direful vengeance 
of his innocent blood to be on them and their chil- 
dren. In other respects the case of Christ and Jonas 
was more alike. With his own consent the prophet 
is cast forth into the sea, after he had acknowledged 
that himself was the man for whose cause the 
storm was sent, and whom the angry ocean de- 
manded ; so Jesus Christ laid down his life in the 
most voluntary manner, and boldly offered himself 
to the multitude who were sent to apprehend him^ 
saying, " I am the man whom ye seek ; and if ye 
seek me, let these go their way." And as the suffer- 



g^ TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

ings of the prophet, who was plunged into the ocean, 
were attended with the most happy consequences, 
the stilling of the tempest, the preservation of their 
lives, and, as is hoped, the salvation of their souls ; 
even so, when Jesus the Son of God expired on the 
cross, this event, though in appearance tragical, was 
productive of the most blessed effects, appeasing the 
tempest of God's anger, and saving from destruction 
the many for whom he gave his life a ransom, some 
of whom were the instruments of his death. 

His lodging in the belly of the fish three days and 
nights, most certainly corresponds to the burial of 
our Redeemer in the grave, a part of three natural 
days. Never did that monster of the deep swallow 
such a morsel before. Nor did ever the grave en- 
close such a prisoner as Jesus was. Jonah, it is true, 
was not really dead, as Christ was, when in the heart 
of the earth: but as that dismal place of darkness 
and corruption did much resemble the gloomy hor- 
rors of the loathsome grave, and is even styled the 
belly of hell by the prophet himself; perhaps the cir- 
cumstance of Jonah's being alive in that living sepul- 
chre, may put us in mind, that Jesus Christ was the 
living God, even when he was a dead man ; for O 
death, you was able indeed to rend his soul and body 
from one another, but neither soul nor body were dis- 
severed from his divine person. And as Jonah re- 
ceived no harm in that horrible prison, (which was 
miraculous, if we consider the strength and heat in 
the stomach of so large a creature ;) so Jesus Christ, 
when lying in the grave a pale and bloody corpse, 
saw no corruption. 

His casting forth on dry land on the third day af- 
ter his imprisonment, at the commandment of the 
Lord, answers to the resurrection of the Son of God, 
who, at the commandment of his Father, was on the 
third day taken from prison and from judgment. 
When Jonah was saved from the fish, he was also 
saved from the sea, revisiting at once the light of day 
and the dry land. When Christ was rescued from the 
grave, he at the same time emerged from under those 
billows of his Father's wrath which all passed over 
his head. It was not possible that Jonah should be 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 85 

detained in his ugly dungeon when the Lord spake 
unto the lish. It was not possible that Christ should 
be held by the cords of death longer than the ap- 
pointed time ; and he may truly say, ** Thou hast 
brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my 
God." Nevertheless in all things Jesus must have 
the pre-eminence, and we must certainly acknow- 
ledge» ih^t a greater than Jonas is here. For whereas 
Jonas did not contribute in the least towards his own 
restoration, but would have for ever continued in 
that melancholy prison, if he had not been miracu- 
lously delivered from it; our Redeemer, on the 
other hand, as he had power to lay down his life, so 
he had power to take it again. The fish that swal- 
lowed Jonah might, for aught we know, receive as 
little harm by the prophet, as the prophet by the 
fish ; but O grave he was thy destruction. This 
hungry monster had gorged all the race of Adam, 
and never said. It is enough. Never any descended 
into the grave but it was able to digest them, till Je- 
sus Christ died and was buried. This grand devourer 
snatched the bait of his human body, was not aware 
of the hook of his divinity, and was forced to surren- 
der her prey, having received such a deadly wound 
as never shall be healed. 

His preaching to the Ninevites, and saving them 
from imminent destruction, corresponds to Jesus 
Christ, his preaching to the Gentiles by his apostles 
after his resurrection from the dead.* For the gra- 
cious design of preserving a guilty city, by turning 
them from their evil ways, was the prophet pre- 
served in the monster's belly, and revisiting the light 
on the third day. And for the same merciful pur- 
pose was Jesus raised from the dead, to save a guilty 
world from death, and to bless them, in turning every 
one of them from their iniquities. — The belief those 
poor Gentiles gave to the threatening prophet, and 
their speedy repentance, was it not a prelude of that 
quick reception the doctrine of Jesus Christ should 
meet with among them that were aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel ? On this occasion the 
prophet acted a most unworthy part, and evidenced 
a greater regard to his own reputation than the sal- 



86 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book I. 

vation of his hearers. Sure never man suited his name 
worse ; for he is more like a vulture than a dove. 
In this Jonah is not a type of Jesus Christ, who wept 
over Jerusalem, not because they repented, but be- 
cause they repented not, and knew not the thing 
that belonged to their eternal peace. On this account, 
as well as those formerly mentioned, we may truly 
say, that a greater than Jonas is here. 



BOOK It. 

TYPICAL TfflNGS. 



'00000- 



I. THE VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER. 

In the multitude of dreams there wants not divers 
vanities ; yet God is also in sleep, and has conveyed 
to the human mind notices of the last importance in 
a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep 
feUeth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed ; so 
great is that power he has over us, both when we 
wake, and when we sleep. A pregnant instance of 
this we have in Jacob's night- vision, which God 
granted unto him in Bethel, to cheer his drooping 
heart, when he wandered all solitary, an exile from 
his father's house, to avoid the resentment of his bro- 
Iher. The sun was set, and the lonely traveller not 
being able to reach the next town, or on some other 
account, not known to us, resolves for one night to 
make the great God his landlord, the earth his bed, 
the stones his bolster, and the canopy of heaven his 
covering ; for though he was delicately brought up 
by his fond mother, whose darling child he was, the 
tender usage he received had not so far unmanned 
him, as to betray undue softness and effeminacy : for 
upon this occasion he could put up with veiy course 
accommodation. There is no doubt his working mind 
would be fertile of melancholy thoughts, as he lay 
thus in the open air, exposed to the chill damps of 
the night and other dangers. Perhaps he might com- 
pare his dismal solitude with the happier lot of Esau, 
who was enjoying himself at home with his father. 
Who knows but he might begin to think, that the 
birth-right and blessing he was so fond of obtaining, 
were not such great matters, as that he needed for 
their sakes to have exposed himself to such hardships 
as he presently felt, and might still expect to meet 



SB TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

with ? But if any such pensive thoughts disturbed his 
mind, they are soon chased away by the welcome 
approach of sleep, and the delightful vision he saw, 
together with the friendly words he seemed to hear 
from the mouth of God himself; for ** he dreamed, 
and behold, a ladder, the top of it reached to heaven, 
and the foot of it was set upon the earth : and behold, 
the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. 
And behold the Lord stood above it,*' not silent, but 
speaking words full of inexpressible consolation. The 
meaning of this emblem is the present subject of our 
thoughts: and perhaps it will be found, on a nearer 
inspect! on» both to represent the mystery of Provi- 
dence and of redemption. 

And, first, It was a vision of providence, and might 
be intended to suggest to the patriarch's mind the 
following important and interesting truths. — That 
though God be in the heights above, he forgets not 
the affairs of mortals below, as though the interposing 
clouds could v«il them from his sight, or the huge 
distance of heaven and earth could be an objection 
against his superintending care. — That though he is 
able, by himself alone, to govern the whole world, 
without the help of any created beings whatever; yet 
he is pleased to use the miniscry of angels, which 
walk invisibly through the earth, and are continually 

5)assing from heaven to earth, to fulfil the pleasure of 
[ehovah, and from earth to heaven, to receive the 
commands of their eternal Sovereign. — That the re- 
gards of Providence, and the kindty offices of these 
spiritual creatures, are not confined to large societies, 
and the grand revolutions that happen in the world, 
but are even extended to the most private interests 
of every individual ; for none but Jacob was present 
in the place where the ladder seemed to stand. — And 
lastly, that the divine Providence exercises the most 
tender care when one's situation is most deplorable, 
destitute and afflictive ; for Jacob saw this vision, 
when his head was lying hard, and his heart perhaps 
tormented with anxious care, when he was leaving a 
kind mother, a religious father, and the place where 
he was born and educated, uncertain of the reception 
he would meet with from his relations, or if he should 
ever see his dear parents any more. But as his 



THE VISION OF JACOB'S LADDER. 89 

affliction abounded his consolation did much more 
abound. 

But, perhaps, we shall not think amiss, though we 
consider this emblematical ladder as a figure of the 
Messiah himself, who is the blessed medium of com- 
munication between heaven and earth, — the way 
without whom no man comes to the Father,— and the 
one Mediator between God and man. We can scarce- 
ly find a fitter explication of what Christ himself pro- 
mised to Nathaniel, that Israelite indeed, * Hereafter 
ye shall see the heaven open, and the angels of God 
ascending and descending upon the Son of man," than 
by comparing it with this wonderful ladder, which he 
seems to hint was himself. And there is no contempti- 
ble analogy.— For, first. Whereas the foot of this lad- 
der was on earth, and the top reached to heaven, this 
may both represent what is the constitution of his 
Person, and what are the blessed fruits of the media- 
torial interposition. As the ladder seemed to unite 
the heaven and earth, the most distant extremes ; so 
the Person of Immanuel unites the human nature and 
the divine, though the distance between them is in- 
finitely great. And as the ladder opened a path from 
God to man, and from man to God, by reaching from 
heaven to earth ; so the mediation of Jesus Christ has 
paved a w^ay both for the approach of the Deity to 
sinners, that he may dwell with them, and for the 
access of sinners unto God, that they may dwell with 
him, and have their conversation in heaven. O mer- 
ciful and faithful High-Priest, by thy incarnation and 
satisfaction, a friendly correspondence is established 
between the heaven and earth ; for thou hast laid 
thy hand upon us both, and art thyself our new and 
living way to everlasting bliss, and the channel of 
conveyance to every spiritual blessing. — Whereas 
the angels of God were seen to ascend and descend 
upon the ladder, this may both signify that in Jesus 
Christ angels and men shall be united in one society ; 
and that by Jesus Christ they are upheld from falling, 
and supported in their happy state. Were they not 
the friends of men, why should they be represented 
as running on our errands ? Were they not confirmed 
and supported by Jesus our Mediator, why should 
spiritual beings, and winged messengers, be said to 

h2 



90 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

ascend and descend upon the Son of man, as on a 
ladder ? — Whereas the Lord stood above this ladder, 
and from its top spoke good and comfortable words 
to his servant Jacob, comfirming the gracious cove- 
nant made with his fathers , is not this a clear intima- 
tion, that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto 
himself, confirming his covenant, and uttering his 
gracious promise, as well pleased in his beloved Son. 
—Whereas Jacob alone was at the foot of the ladder, 
on whose top the Lord seemed to stand ; might not 
this been considered by the adoring patriarch, after 
he awoke, as a comfortable intimation, that the glo- 
rious Person who was signified by the vision, should 
spring out of his loins, and be made of his seed ac- 
cording to the flesh, as the true possessor of the birth- 
right, and inheritor of the patriarchal blessing. — 
And, lastly. Whereas he saw but one ladder, Jesus 
Christ, is the alone Mediator, without whom the 
Father comes to no man, and no man comes to the 
Father. 



(91) 



II. THE VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH. 

THE last emblematical vision was seen in a night- 
dream by Jacob . but that which we are now to con- 
sider was shewed unto Moses in the day-time, when 
he was broad awake. This future law-giver was now 
of a prince in Egypt, become a shepherd in Midian ; 
and as it was the purpose of God to send him to Pha- 
raoh with a commission to demand the release of his 
oppressed people, he was pleased to grant him an 
illustrious manifestation or prodigy, to rouse his at- 
tention to what God should speak, and to presage 
the success of his negotiation, and his own future dig- 
nity. At the time when he saw the heavenly vision, 
he was tending the flock of Jethro, as honest industry, 
and the moderate exercise of the thoughts about the 
lawful affairs of the world, is no obstruction to divine 
communications. And the place in which he received 
it may also be worthy of our notice : he led his flock 
to the backside of the desert, and came to the moun- 
tain of God, even to Horeb ; for solitude and retire- 
ment fr .n the hurry of the world, has always been 
a friend to holy meditation, and intercourse with God. 
So Moses found on this occasion : for the angel of the 
Lord, not a created angel, but the uncreated Angel 
of the covenant, who assumed to himself the high title 
of " the Godof Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and 1am 
THAT I AM, and who required of Moses the tokens of 
the most profound respect and religious subjection ; 
—to be short, the Messias himself appeared in a 
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ; and '* behold, 
the bush burned with fire, yet was not consumed." 
The novelty of the sight induced him to satisfy his 
curiosity by a nearer approach ; but he was stopped 
short by the voice of God, which sufficiently ex- 
plained the prodigy. Should it now be enquired, why 
the divine Majesty chose to appear in this manner? 
Though we could assign no other reason but his so- 
vereign pleasure, it were sufficient. But most gene- 
rally, the appearances and manifestations of the Dei- 



92 TYPICAL THINGS. Book U. 

ty, in that age of types, were vouchsafed in such a 
manner as to represent some hidden mystery, or im- 
portant doctrine of the Gospel. They who think that 
the flame of fire might signify the pure and spiritual 
nature of God, who appeared in it, of vvhich no simi- 
litude can be made, are certainly not mistaken. And 
it is also not unfitly observed, that the burning bush 
may represent the state of Israel at that time, who 
were entangled in the thorny bush of adversity, and 
encompassed with the fire of afHicdon, in which they 
were like to be consumed. But let us draw near, a6d 
consider with Moses this great sight with a closer 
attention ; and perhaps it will be found a most signi- 
ficant emblem, both of Jesus Christ who was in the 
bush, and of the Church which is his body, in every 
age of the world. 

And, fir^t, It seems very probable that this was a 
prelusive vision both of the future incarnation and suf- 
ferings of Jesus Christ. — That the bush may repre- 
sent his human nature, is not unlikely, especially as 
the prophet Esaias com.pares hirn to a tender plant, 
and root out of a dry ground, in which, to the eye of 
sense, no form, comeliness, or beauty should be found. 
— '1 hat the flame of fire may adumbrate his divme 
nature, will be no less evident, when we consider 
how often the fiery element, is, in the scripture-style, 
an emblem of the Deity, yea, it is expressly said, 
•* Our God is a consuming fire." — That the union of 
the flame of fire with the bush may denote the union 
of the Godhead and the manhood,'is notat all absurd 
to suppose : for why should Moses in his dying bene- 
diction be directed to speak of the good-will of him 
ivho dvjelt in the bush ? May it not signify, that the 
continuance of the flame of fire in the bush for a 
short time, was a type of the fulness of the Godhead 
dwelling for ever in the man Christ Jesus .•* As the 
bush was in the fire, and the fire was in the bush, yet 
still they were distinct things, though enjoined thus 
in one : even so the man Christ Jesus is in the God, 
and the God is in the man, though both these natures, 
so mysteriously united, do still retain their own dis- 
tinct properties. And if Moses was struck with ad- 
miration, that the bush was not consumed, though in 
such near neighbourhood with ruddy flame; much more 



THE VISION OF THE BURlTING BUSH. 9J 

may \ve be overwhelmed with amazement, to think 
how a portion of our frail humanity lives for ever in 
a state of the nearest approach unto, and most ineffa- 
ble union with the glorious Godhead in whose un- 
veiled presence we mortals could not live, and even 
the angels cover their faces with their wings. — Here 
also maybe discerned a shadow of those direful suf- 
ferings by which the Son of God was to expiate our 
sin. For the wrath of God is every where in scrip- 
ture compared to fire the most fierce and dreadful 
of all the inanimate creatures, which with severe 
impartiality, devours all combustible things. Who 
of all the human race could dwell with this devouring 
element.^ Far less could any abide with the everlast- 
ing burnings of the Almighty's indignation. But Jesus 
Christ who dwelt in the bush, dwelt also with these 
fierce flames : and though he endured the wrath of 
God, which flamed most intensely against him, as 
he bore the sins of many, though he was compassed 
by this fire all the days of his humbled life ; yet he 
was not consumed, because his Deity, liRe the angel 
in the bush, supported his humanity, and bade him 
be a glorious conqueror. 

From the sufferings of the head, let us descend to 
the sufferings of the body, who are predestinated to 
be conformed to his image. Let the bush be an em- 
blem of the church, to which it may be compared 
on account of its weak, obscure, and contemptible 
state in the esteem of worldly men, who are taken 
with nothing but what dazzles the eye of sense. For 
though there is a real glory and a spiritual magnifi- 
cence in this holy society, she cannot compete with 
earthly kingdoms in outward splendour, any more 
than a bnsh in the wilderness can vie with the ce-^ 
dar in Lebanon ; for besides the paucity of her true 
members, they are commonly to be found rather in 
smoky cottages than proud palaces ; and some- 
times they have been found in prisons, dungeons, 
dens, and caves of the earth. Let the fire in v/hich 
the bush burned, signify the fiery trials to which the 
Church has been no stranger in all ages. Sometimes 
she has burned in the fire of persecution, and some- 
times of division. But as the bush was not consumed, 
so neither shall the Church be finally destroyed. In 



^4 TYPICAL THINGS. 



Book IL 



vain shall the great reu4ragon persecute this woman 
clothed with the sun, and watch to devour her off- 
spring ; for a place is prepared for her in the wilder- 
ness by the great God, and there no necessary pro- 
vision shall be wanting. How many times have bloody 
and deceitful men conspired her destruction? When 
were incendiaries wanting to foment and kindle those 
tires, which, without the immediate interposition of 
the Keeper of Israel, would certainly have wasted 
unto destruction, and completed the utter extinction 
of this humble bush > What society but this alone 
could have subsisted to this day, in the midst of a 
hating world ? Where are now the mighty empires 
of antiquity ? They are but an empty name, live only 
m history, having fallen to pieces by their own weieht. 
or been crushed by bloody war. But the Church of 
Christ, though she has undergone many revolutions, 4 
remains, and will remain, when the consumption de- 
termined by the Lord of hosts shall come upon all 
the earth. ^ 

Ask you the reason ? The angel of the Lord is in 
the bush, and though persecuted, sheis not forsaken ; 
therefore shall the fiery trials, instead of consuming 
her serve to refine her, and add unto her gloiy, as 
the bush was only brightened by the ftame. 

Does not the famous history of the three Hebrew 
worthies, who by faith quenched the violence of fire 
attest this whole matter in the most literal sense! 
Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king, takes it into his 
head to erect a monstrous golden image, to be wor- 
shipped by all his numerous subjects. The dedication 
ot this new god is celebrated by a prodigious con- 
course of people, who, by the king's proclamation, 
assembled m the plains of Dura. A severe edict is 
issued forth against any person who should refuse to 
pay religious homage to the molten deity. He must 
be cast ahve into a burning fire ; for was ir ever heard 
that cruelty and idolatry were separated? 1 he noise 
ol every musical instrument is the signal for bej^in- 
nmg the detestable rites of adoration. What a parade 
toestabhsh this silly superstition ! And now the music 
sounds, see how the foolish people fall down in adora- 
tion to a senseless statue ! Yet there are found amonc; 
the captives of Judah, who dare dispute the royal 
order. () faith, how dost thou extend thy triumphs ♦ 



THE VISION OF THE BURNING BUSH, 95 

Who can sufficiently admire the excellent spirit, and 
the undaunted resolution of these heroes ! They stand 
before a sovereign and angry majesty, they see the 
vast pomp of his courtiers, they hear the sonorous 
peals of the music sent from a thousand instruments, 
they behold the prodigious furnace gleaming to the 
clouds : yet are they not apalled by any, by all of 
these things, so apt to strike terror into vulgar minds, 
but despise them as ludicrous and puerile. They 
boldly tell, that the God they adored, was able to de- 
liver them from his furnace, if he pleased ; and 
though he should not, they would not comply to wor- 
ship another god. The music that resounded through 
all the spacious plain was not half so melodious as 
their answer to the king's menaces. The enraged 
tyrant orders, and without delay they are cast bound 
hand and foot into the burning flame. But mark the 
amazing event ! A marvellous thing is presented to 
the eyes of the king; for looking narrowly, he be- 
holds not three men melting, but four men walking in 
the fire, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of 
God. These servants of the Lord were not ashamed 
of him, nor is he ashamed of them, but descends in a 
bodily shape, (a prelude of his incarnation,) looses 
their fetters, makes a covenant for them with the 
flames of fire, and walking with them openly in the 
furnace, proclaims to all spectators, " In as much as 
ye have done it unto these my brethren, you did it unto 
me." Go now, mighty monarch, and glory in thy des- 
potic sway ; but remember there is a King more sove- 
reign than thou, who can make the flames of fire harm- 
less as the morning hght ; who can bid that fierce and 
dreadful element spare them whom thou biddestit to 
devour, though in the veiy heart of the oven, and de- 
stroy them whom thou wished it would not touch, 
though standing without. Thus wherein any deals 
proudly, God is above them. The king, and all his 
counsellors, see with their eyes tliis extraordinary 
miracle, and that the faithful servants of God had not 
received the least damage by the fire, and are 
ashamed for their envy to the people. Thus was the 
promise fulfilled, " When thou walkest through the 
fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame 
kindle upon thee." And so the bush though burning, 
is not consumed in the fire. 



(96) 



III. THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 

00000 

THE sojourners of Goshen were now escaped from 
the land of Egypt, and about to enter into the vast 
wilderness of Arabia, that interposed betwixt them 
and the promised land. The Lord, who makes the 
clouds his chariot, and darkness his pavilion, was 
pleased to go before them in a marvellous pile of 
cloudy vapours, resembling a pillar, ascending from 
their camp. Here he dwelt, not for a short time, as 
in the busn, but for the space of forty years. A most 
extraordinary thing to be sure it was, and none of the 
least of the standing miracles which he shewed to 
the chosen seed. The fame of this strange pheno- 
menon was spread abroad among the nations, who 
heard that the cloud of the Lord stood above them, 
and might very well be supposed to move the ques- 
tion, " Who is this that comes up from the wilder- 
ness like pillars of smoke ?" For this cloud differed 
so much from all others that ever were seen, as it 
may justly be reckoned a complication of miracles. 
It was miraculous, that its form was never changed, 
when there is nothing more variable than the appear- 
ance of the ordinary clouds that sail through the airy- 
regions. It was miraculous, that it should always 
maintain its station over the tabernacle, when other 
clouds are carried about by tempests, and driven with 
fierce winds from the one extremity of heaven to the 
other. It was miraculous, that it should preserve its 
consistency forty years; whereas all other clouds are 
dissipated by the wind, exhaled by the sun, or dis- 
solved in rain and dew, and in a very short time are 
blotted from the face of the sky. It was miraculous, 
that this cloud should move in such peculiar direction, 
as it had been endued with instinct and intelligence; 
for it was carried about by his counsels in a more 
immediate way than can be said of the other clouds 
of heaven. But especially it was miraculous, that con- 
trary to the nature of all other clouds, it should be 



THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 97' 

brighter by night than by day, when it had the ap- 
pearance of the shining of a flaming fire. 

As to the particular meaning of this cloud where- 
with the Lord covered his Israel, not in his anger, 
but in his love. It was without all doubt a visible 
symbol of a present Deity, God hereby condescend- 
ing to adapt himself, as in many other things, to the 
rude taste of that ancient people, and perhaps to sig- 
nity the dark and cloudy nature of the legal dispen- 
sation under which they were. But the principal rea- 
son I would suggest is the following. His appearing 
to Israel in a veil of cloud, might be a prelude of his 
appearing in a veil of flesh. What though we should 
say, this pillar of cloud and fire is an emblem of that 
glorious Person in whom the brightness of Divinity is 
joined with the darkness of humanity ! For as there 
were not two pillars, the one of cloud and the other of 
fire, but one pillar both of cloud and fire; so there are 
not two persons of Immanuel, the one God and the 
other man, but one Person, who is both God and 
man. An adorable mystery this, strange indeed, and 
beyond measure surprising : but it is so far from being 
only a vain speculation, that it is deservedly esteemed 
a fundamental article of the Christian faith; and truly, 
without admitting it, the scriptures themselves will be 
darker than this cloud ever was to the Egyptians. 

John the beloved apostle, and great New Testa- 
ment prophet, who saw the visions of God, and who 
talks in many places in the Old Testament dialect, 
speaks of a glorious angel arising out of the East, 
who certainly was Christ himself, he was clothed 
with a cloud, and his feet were as pillars of fire. A 
description which might very probably allude to this 
same cloud and fire. But if we take a more particu- 
lar survey of the uses for which it served in the wil- 
derness, we shall see with what admirable propriety 
they all may be affirmed of Jesus Christ, who indeed 
was the angel that resided in the cloud, and is that 
unto his Church in every age, in their bewildered 
state, which the cloud was to the twelve tribes, till 
they reached the earthly Canaan. In whom but Jesus 
Christ can we suppose that great and precious pro- 
raise made to the universal church to have received 
its accomplishment, " And the Lord will create upon 



98 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon all her 
assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shin- 
ing of a flaming fire by night : for upon all the glory- 
shall be a defence ?" What then were those uses for 
which this cloud served the Israelites ? 

It was their guide that went before them in the 
vast pathless desert, where they wandered in a soli- 
tary way. So great was the regard they paid to all its 
motions which they continually watched, that when 
it moved they struck their camp at any hour of the 
day or of the night, when it halted they pitched their 
tents, and there abode till its next remove, whether 
the time was short or long. The times and seasons of 
their marching were not, as in other armies, adjusted 
by their counsels of war, nor left to the regulation 
even of Moses himself; for God put them wholly in 
his own power. However, it would appear that its 
motions were properly timed, and mercifully propor- 
tioned to the strength of the weak, and the conve- 
niency of all. Nor did it ever leave them, for all their 
provocations in the wilderness, till they aiTived at 
the land that flowed with milk and honey. Just sucji 
a general, unerring, gentle, and perpetual guide is 
lesus Christ by his example, word, and Spirit, to all 
the travellers for the better country through the wil- 
derness of this world; for it is not in man that walks 
to direct his stefiSy by his own wisdom, in the way 
that leads to life. Who can recount the wanderings 
of miserable sinners, till Jesus Christ was given a 
leader and a commander to the people ? He it is who 
teaches to profit, and leads in the way wherein we 
should go. Nor is it possible that any should miss 
eternal glory, who walk after him in the wilderness, 
conforming themselves to the dictates of his holy 
word, with the same care the Israelites observed the 
motions of the miraculous cloud. O ye followers of 
the Lamb, you shall not err under the conduct of 
your celestial guide ; you shall be led forth in the way 
that is right, even where there is no way, till you 
come to the city of habitation. 

It was their guard that protected them, when their 
Egyptians pursuers were pressing on their rear ; for 
it removed on that occasion from their van, and went 
behind them, fotbidding by its darkness the approacli 



I'HE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE. 99 

of the hostile army all that night on which they tra- 
velled through the flood on foot. On this occasion we 
are told, that the Lord looked through the pillar, 
and troubled the Egyptian host at the hour of mid- 
night. *• The waters saw thee, O God, the waters 
saw thee: they were afraid; the depths also were 
troubled. The clouds poured out water, the skies 
sent out a sound : thine arrows went abroad. The 
voice of thy thunder was in the heavens ; thy lighten- 
ings lightened the world, the earth trembled and 
shook. Thy way was in the sea, thy path in the 
mighty waters, and thy footsteps were not known. 
Thou leddest thy people like a nock by the hand of 
Moses and Aaron." Such is that protection Jesus 
affords to his militant people, who being rescued from 
the bondage of sin, are marchmg forward to their 
goodly inheritance. Though Satan, with his infernal 
host, like the tyrant of Egypt, pursues after them, 
and fondly thinks to reclaim the lawful captives, the 
glory of the Lord becomes their rear-ward, Jesus is 
unto them for walls and bulwarks, forbidding the ap- 
proach of mortal danger. He is their hidii.g-place, 
in whom they are preserved, like Israel in the cloud, 
being kept by the power of God through faith unto 
salvation. 

It was their candle that enlightened their darkness, 
that smoothed the rugged brow of the night» and 
served to abate the horrors of the wilderness after 
the sun was set ; for it reserved its shining appear- 
ance to the season when the Israelites were most in 
need of its cheerful aspect. Nor dost thou, O thou 
true light, suit thyself to the case of thy people with 
less condescension. Without thee this world were a 
dark place, and, to the eyes of our mind, more dismal 
than the dreary wilderness would have been in the 
blackest night to the Israelites, without their kind of- 
ficious cloud. Blessed be God for the sun, the moon, 
the stars, but more for Jesus Christ, who delivers 
from the blackness of darkness for ever, and who, 
like the cloudy pillar, is always most liberal of his 
lightsome manifestations, when his people are sitting 
in ihe darkness of adversity. House of Israel, let 
us walk in this light of the Lord, whilst the way 
of the wicked, like the way of the Egyptians, is as 
darkness. 



100 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

It was their umbrella or screen to shade them from 
the sultry beams of the sun in that torrid wilderness. 
A most grateful service ! And whereas an apostle 
speaks of our fathers being baptized in the cloud, it 
would seem, that on some occasions this beneficial 
cloud refreshed the Israelites, by shedding kindly 
dews upon their camp. So Jesus Christ is to his peo- 
ple as a refreshing dew upon the grass, and as a 
cloud of the latter rain. Under his shadow they sit 
down with great delight, and find cool shelter from 
the scorching beams both of divine wrath and worldly 
tribulation. Happy souls who have thus the Lord for 
their keeper, and for their shade on their right hand. 
" The sun shall not smite them by day, nor the moon 
by night :" even that great and terrible day, which 
shall burn like an oven, will be to these favoured of 
the Lord, as the times of refreshing from the presence 
of the Lord. 

It was their oracle ; for he spake unto them in the 
cloudy pillar. And it was their ornament; for he 
spread this cloud for their covering, or cloth of state, 
making darkness not only his own, but their pavilion. 
How fitly both these may be applied to Jesus Christ, 
is not difficult to see. Who but Christ is the oracle 
of his Church, in whom God speaks unto his people, 
both as a promising and prayer answering God, with- 
out whom we woold not have heard his voice at any 
time, but in the language of terror? Who but Christ 
is their ointment, who makes them terrible as an 
army with banners, and comely as Jerusalem ? The 
pillar of cloud and fire was not half so adorning to 
their camp, as is thy gracious presence to every as- 
sembly and every dwelling-place of mount Zion, O 
thou glorious Redeemer. Even now thou art the hght 
of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 
But how much more when this imperfect scene shall 
pass away, and they shall know the import of that 
most gracious promise, " The Lord shall be thine 
everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 



(101) 



lY. THE MANNA m THE WILDERNESS. 

WE have seen how the horrors of the wilderness 
were considerably abated by their miraculous cloud. 
But soon the provision they brought from Egypt is 
spent ; and unless some new miracle is wrought for 
them, they have nothing before their eyes but the 
melancholy prospect of perishing with hunger. The 
faithless multitude forgetting their late deliverance 
at the Red sea, fall to murmuring against Moses, and 
wished they had never stirred from the house of bon- 
dage. Had they got what they deserved on this occa- 
sion, the Lord had sent fire from heaven upon them 
instead of food : but God, who is rich in mercy, chose 
to still the fretful murmurs of his first-born with the 
breast, rather than with the rod. He bids the heaven 
supply by its bounty what the earth denied by its bar- 
renness, and without their toil or sweat, gives them 
plenty of bread, even in aland that was not sown. 
*' He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave 
them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food : 
he sent them meat to the full." How happy are they 
who are walking after the Lord, though in a wilder- 
ness ! It was a convincing proof, that man does not 
live by bread alone. But God intended by this good 
gift not only to supply their present necessity, but 
also to prefigure that spiritual meat presented in the 
Gospel. In this interpretation we cannot possibly be 
wrong, when we have no less an authority for it than 
Jesus Christ himself, who, speaking to his hearers on 
this very subject, says, " Moses gave them not that 
bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the 
true bread from heaven. For the bread ot God is he 
that came down from heaven, and gives life unto the 
world. I am the bread of life." Having therefore, 
such infallible testimony to the general meaning of 
this heavenly food, let us try to find out the principal 
traces of resemblance betwixt it and Jesus Christ. In 
order to this we shall shortly attend to the following 
things. 

13 



102 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

Its falling. The manna fell from heaven ; Christ 
is he that comes down from above. It fell round 
about their camfi ; Christ is to be found in the visible 
church, and no where else — with the dew when they 
slept ; Jesus Christ is purely the gift of God, who 
descends like dew upon the grass, for whom we toil 
not, sow not, reap not, — whe7i they were in the most 
absolute need, and ready to perish ; when we were 
without strength, in due time Christ died for the un- 
godly — when they were not at all deserving ity but 
grievously sinning^ by preferring the flesh-pots of 
Egypt, to the prospects of Canaan ; and Christ laid 
down his life when sinners were preferring the plea- 
sures of sin, and vanities of the world, to all the things 
above. In a word, it fell in such large quantities as 
to suffice that numerous host ; in Jesus Christ there 
is enough to supply every want. 

Its gathering by all the Israelites, may signify the 
improvement we all should make of the offered Sa- 
viour. It was gathered every day. So Christ should 
be daily improved by faith. It was gathered in the 
morning. For we must devote the best part of our 
time to the seeking his face, as it is said, '* O Lord 
my God, early will I seek thee." It was gathered 
without the camp. So must the soul that seeks him 
retire from the hurry of the world, or, to use the 
expression of the sacred page, " go out into the fields, 
and lodge in the villages." it was gathered a double 
portion on the sixth day, but on the seventh which 
was the Sabbath, they stirred not from their tents, 
but lived on what they laid up the day before. So in 
the season of this mortal life must we labour for that 
meat that endures to everlasting life, in the believing 
improvement of the means of grace, and when the 
eternal Sabbath comes, we shall enjoy the hidden 
manna without means, or any painful endeavours. 

Its parting among the Israelites, seems not to be 
without its meaning. Some gathered less, some more, 
in proportion to their ability and diligence, but all re- 
ceived a homer (a large allowance) from the com- 
mon heap. By which means, as Moses relates. He 
that gathered much, had nothing over, because he 
gave to him that gathered less ; and he that gathered 



THE MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS. 103 

little had no lack, because he received from him that 
gathered more. Was the manna parted liberally unto 
all? None are straitened in Jesus Christ: **They 
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's 
house ; and thou shalt make them drink of the river 
of thy pleasures." Was the manna equally distributed 
among the Israelites ? So all believers, of every sex, 
of every age, of every nation, strong or weak, emi- 
nent or obscure do equally partake in the common 
salvation : for all are one in Christ Jesus. 

Its preparing in mills, mortars, and pans, where it 
was ground, beaten, and baked, to make it fit for di- 
gestion and nourishment, may put us in mind of the 
various sufferings of Christ's body and soul. The 
bread of God is he which came down from heaven ; 
but ere he couldprove the bread of life, he behoved 
himself to die. That his flesh might be meat indeed, 
he behoved, as it were, to be beaten in the mortar of 
adversity, ground in the mill of vindictive justice, and 
baked as in the oven of the wrath of God. 

Its tasting so sweet when thus prepared, (for it re- 
sembled the fatness of oil, and the lusciousness of 
honey,) and its pjroving so wholesome and nutritive 
to all, though of different constitutions, may it not sig- 
nify, that Jesus Christ is to the soul both sweet and 
wholesome food, adapted to the taste of all, of young 
men, of children, and of fathers.^ And as the manna 
is supposed to have needed no other ingredients to 
make it palatable, no more does Jesus Christ, or the 
doctrine of his gospel, need any foreign recommen- 
dation to the spiritual taste. " O taste and see, that 
the Lord is good," says the sweet singer of Israel; 
and in another place, " How sweet are thy words 
unto my taste; yea, sweeter than honey to the 
mouth. 

Its putrifying, if kept contrary to God's command, 
(for what was not used to day, bred worms, and 
stank to-morrow,) mi^ht not this denote, that when 
the wholesome doctrines of Christ's gospel are 
hoarded up in idle speculation, without being other- 
wise received in love, or digested in spiritual nourish- 
ment, they are so far from being the savour of life 
unto life, as they become the savour of death unto 



104 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

death, and breed the worms of various lusts, and a 
condemning conscience: on which account it may 
be said here. He that iiicreascth knowledge increase 
€th sorroiu. 

Its despising by the multitude as light food, by 
■which their soul was dried away, in comparison with 
their rank Egyptian fare, renders it a proper em- 
blem of Jesus Christ, the true bread, who is despised 
and rejected of men. Though the pure doctrine of 
Christ is, like the manna, angels' food, (for into these 
things they desire to pry ;) yet are there found to 
•whom the word of the Lord is a reproach, and they 
have no delight in it. A romance, a philosophical 
disquisition, a moral declamation, a political ha- 
rangue, is far more grateful than a sermon whose 
theme is a crucified Redeemer. What is this but to 
prefer the fish, the melons, the cucumbers and 
onions of Egypt, to the corn of heaven ? For their 
contempt of this celestial food, the Lord sent fiery 
serpents to plague the murmurers and complainers. 
Nor do the despisers of Jesus Christ expose them- 
selves to less dreadful strokes, though they should 
not be of a corporeal kind: for all these things hafi- 
fiened unto them for eiisamfiles ; and theij are writ- 
ten for our admonition^ ufion whom the ends of the 
TJorid are come, 

I'he preserving it in a golden pot, where, for a 
number of ages, it was deposited in the most holy 
place, and remained without corrupiion : v/as it not a 
representation of Christ's ascension into heaven, 
where he appears in the presence of God, death 
having no more dominion over him, and where he 
will be contained till the time of the restitution of all 
things? Why else should communion with Christ in 
glory, be spoken of in terms alluding to this very 
thing P For thus it is promised, " To him that over- 
comes, will I give to eat of the hidden manna," in the 
words that the Spirit says unto the churches. 

The continuance of this heavenly bread for the 
space of forty years, (for so long they were in the 
wilderness,) does it not clearly intimate, that Jesus 
Christ will never forsake his people while they are 
here below ? Still shall the bread of God descend in 



THE MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS. 105 

the dispensation of the everlasting gospel, while the 
necessities of his people call for it : for so he promis- 
ed, when about to depart from the earth, " Go," 
says he to his apostles, *• teach and baptize all na- 
tions : and lo ! 1 am with you always even to the end 
of the world." 

The ceasing of the manna upon their tasting the 
corn of Canaan, may it not be viewed as a figure of 
ordinances, their ceasing when the wandering tribes 
shall gain their promised rest? Or, shall we say, that 
as their heavenly provision failed when they tasted 
the bread that comes out of the earth ; so when the 
children of (iod themselves begin to relish over- 
much of the things of the earth, they may expect 
that heavenly consolations will be suspended in pro- 
portion ? When they are on the worst terms with the 
world, or when it is unto them as a wilderness and a 
land not sown, then truly God is good to Israel. Know 
your mercy, ye distinguished favourites of heaven; 
nor envy their happiness who eat the calves out of 
the stall, alid the lambs out of the fold, but are not 
fed with the heritage of Jacob. Let the sensual volup- 
tuary glut himself with the impure pleasures of sin, 
•which, like the little book that John did eat, are 
sweet to the mouth, but bitter in the belly, and to 
whom we may adapt the significant words in Job, 
" His meat in his bowels is turned ; it is the gall of 
asps within him." Let the rapacious worldling, who 
is smit with the dull charms of gold and silver, who 
is all hurry, hurry, about the business of this transi- 
tory life, let him nil his belly with the hid treasure of 
God, which never yet did satisfy a soul immortal. 
Let the legal self-justiciary, who is perhaps called 
by the name of Christ, but eats his own bread, and 
wears his own apparel, and trusts in his own righ- 
teousness, in whatsoever shape, as the ground of his 
acceptance with God, let him also spend his money 
for that which is not bread, and his labour for that 
which satisfieth not. But let the Christian who knows 
the gift of God, and the excellency of the heavenly 
provision, let him labour not for the meat that per- 
ishes, but for the meat that endures unto everlasting 
life. Hungry and starving soul, you ask for bread, 



106 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

the world gives you a stone ; what else are worldly- 
riches ^ You ask a fish, the world presents you with 
a serpent ; what else are sinful pleasures ? But 
hearken diligently unto him who is himself the living 
bread, " Eat that which is good, and let your soul 
delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come 
unto him ; hear, and your soul shall live." What is 
a happy old age to a happy eternity ? This, O Jesus, 
is thy unspeakable gift. He that eats thee by faith, 
shall live for ever. He that comes to thee shall 
never hunger, and what is more, shall never die. O 
Lord, deny us what thou wilt, but give us this bread 
for evermore. 



(ior> 



V. THE ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. 

00000 > ■ ■ 

BREAD shall be given themy says the prophetic 
voice ; the proof of this we have already seen : Their 
water shall he sure; the proof of which we shall 
presently see. " For he clave the rocks in the wil- 
derness, and gave them drink as out of the great 
depths. He brought also streams out of the rocks, 
and caused waters to run down like rivers." What 
cannot this mighty God do, at whose command the 
clouds shall yield bread, which usually comes out of 
the earth, to appease the hunger of his beloved peo- 
ple, and the rocks shall send forth water, which 
usually falls from the clouds, to satisfy the thirst of 
his chosen race ? " Tremble, O earth, at the pre- 
sence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Ja- 
cob, who turned the rock into a standing water, and 
the flinty rock into a fountain of water." Let us 
briefly recollect this memorable event, and its mystio 
signification. 

The ransomed tribes are, for the trial of their faith, 
conducted by the Lord, who alone did lead them to 
a dry and thirsty spot in the wilderness at the rock 
Rephidim, where there was no water to drink. They 
ought to have recollected on this occasion, that the 
God who brought them here, would most certainly 
extricate them from their present difficulties, as he 
had done often before. But, O impatience, how ab- 
surd and unreasonable art thou ! Instead of betaking 
themselves to God by humble prayer, and quietly 
waiting for the salvation of the Lord, they impiously 
demand of Moses to give them water. They re- 
proach him with decoying them out of Egypt, where 
they were living so happy, with no other design than 
to famish them in the wilderness In vain does this 
meek and gentle servant of God remonstrate the 
injustice and impiety of their outrageous conduct. 
They are at the very point of stoning their deliverer, 
and rewarding with a cruel death the good offices he 
had done for them. He flies to God as his sanctuarv. 



108 TYPICAL PERSONS. Book II* 

and invokes the almighty aid, not to revenge the af- 
front offered him by the rude multitude, but to re- 
lieve them in their present straits. The prayer is no 
sooner made than answered. He is directed to take 
with him the elders of Israel, and the wonder-work- 
ing rod, with which he smote the rivers : ** And be- 
hold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in 
Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall 
come water out of it, that the people may drink.*' 
Moses obeys, and the event crowns his wishes. But 
long after, when the people were in Kadesh, and re- 
duced to the same straits they were in at Rephidim, 
the unbelieving race relapsed into their old rebel- 
lious murmurs. Moses is directed to nearly the same 
method of relief, but does not acquit himself with the 
same temper and moderation. For they angered him 
at the waters of strife, and pi'ovoked his spirit so, 
that he spake unadvisedly with his lips, betraying at 
the same time, in presence of the whole assembly, 
his own diffidence in the promise of Jehovah ; for 
being commanded to speak unto the rock, and as- 
sured that it would obey his voice, he seems to have 
exceeded his commission, by addressing the host in 
the language of wrath and doubting, and smiting the 
rock more than once. The miracle indeed was 
wrought, but the worker, though dear to God, se- 
verely punished for his offensive behaviour and 
unbehef, being involved in the same fate, together 
with Aaron, as the rest of the generation, to die 
in the wilderness, without entering into the pro- 
mised land. 

Tliat more was meant than to give water for their 
thirst, might be presumed from the naked history in 
Moses. This God could do without a miracle. He 
could have opened the bottles of heaven, or led them 
to another Elim.. Or if he had chose the miraculous 
method, why should the rock be smitten with a rod, 
to give streams in the wilderness and waters in the 
desert, while God himself was standing on its sumf- 
nmit ? But the great apostle of the Gentiles puts it be- 
yond all doubt, and warrants us to say without falter- 
ing, that this rock was Christ, Having therefore such 
an infallible guide to our meditation, let us reflect a 
little what was the rock, what was the smiting, and 



THE ROCK IS THE WILDERNESS. 109 

yi/hsit the water that issued from it, and followed 
them in the way^ 

The rock itself might be an emblem of his Person, 
in whom is everlasting strength, to whom we may fly 
as a refuge, and upon whom we may build as a foun- 
dation. There is not, perhaps, a metaphor more fre- 
quent in the book of God than this, God is a rock. 
Thou^ never once used before this remarkable 
occurrence, yet soon after it is adopted by Moses in 
his dying song. 

The smiting of the rock might prefigure his satis- 
factory sufferings, who was stricken, smitten of God 
and afflicted ; and one of the soldiers opened bis side 
with a spear, and there came out blood and water. 
The rock was smitten with the rod of Moses, the 
type of the law ^ And it was the curse of the law 
that subjected him to the ignominious cross, who re- 
deemed us from the curse of the law, being mcde a 
curse for us. The rock was smitten in the presence 
of the elders and people of the Jews with noise and 
tumult. So Christ was wounded for our transgres- 
sions at Jerusalem, the most public place, and at the 
passover solemnity, the most public time. Then and 
there he endured the cross, and despised the shame. 
At the commandment of the Lord the I'ock was 
smitten, and by the commandment of the Lord was 
the Captain of our salvation made perfect through 
sufferings. It was smitten but once with approbation, 
and when Moses smote it twice, the Lord was angiy 
with him for doing it. Might not this be an obscure 
intimation, that Christ by one offering should finish 
the w^ork of our redemption ? For he needed not 
often to suffer from the foundation of the world. But 
whoever they be that crucify to themselves the Son 
of God afresh, they shall not go unpunished. 

The water that issued from the rock, what might 
it signify ? Shall we say, it is an emblem of the glad 
tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which are to the 
distressed conscience, as cold water to a thirsty soul? 
In vain did the poor and needy seek water to refresh 
their troubled minds iu the legal doctrine of the 
Scribes and Pharisees, or in the philosophical dis- 
quisitions of the Gentile sages. Still their souls failed 
them for thirst. But the Icrd heard them, and the 

K 



110 TYPICAL THINGS, Book II, 

God of Jacob did not forsake them. For in the 
preaching of the everlasting gospel both to the Jews 
^nd Gentiles, the charming pronr\ise received its ac- 
complishment in the most ample manner, " I will 
open rivers in the high places, and springs in the 
vallies. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 
and the dry land springs of water. The beast of the 
field shall honour me, the dragon and the owl, be- 
cause I gave waters in the wilderness, and rivers in 
the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen." 
Or shall we say, that the water from the rock is an 
emblem of the influences of the blessed Spirit, that, 
like a river pure as chrystal, issues from tne throne 
of God and of the Lamb ? To this refreshing, cleans- 
ing, and prolific element, our Lord himself compares 
this glorious Person, when on the last day of the feast 
he stood and cried, " If any man thirst, let him come 
tmto me and drink. He that believes o^ me, out of 
his belly shall flow rivers of living water: This he 
spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him 
should receive." Or shall we say, that this water 
may be an emblem of that precious blood of Christ, 
which cleanses from all sin, and except we drink it 
in a spiritual manner, we can have no life in us ? Or,^ 
lastly, shall we say, that the water that issued from 
the smitten rock did represent all the blessings of 
redemption, the salutary effects of his sufferings and 
death ? For to him we may apply what the prophet 
foretels, " And a man shall be as rivers of waters 
in a dry place, andthe shadow of a great rock in a 
weary land." 

These waters flowed not till the rock was smitten 
with the rod of Moses. Nor could we have derived 
these gracious benefits from Christ, which we do 
partake, if he had not suffered. The striking of a 
ilint, one should think, would rather bring fire than 
water. But it vvas of the Lord of hosts, who is won- 
derful in counsel, and excellent in working. Who 
would imagine that the Redeemer's sufferings, which 
in themselves were tragical and melancholy, should 
prove so consolatory to the believing soul } O Chris- 
tian, it is thine to extract joy out of sorrow, happi- 
ness out of misery, glory out' of ignominy, life out of 
death, though these* things seem as impossible as to 
fetch water from the flinty rock. 



THE ROCK IN THE WILDERNESS. m 

The waters flowed when the rock was smitten, 
not in scanty measure, but in large abundance. The 
miraculous stream was not exhausted, though many 
hundred thousand men, with their herds drank of 
It. Nor were the dry places of that sandy desert 
able to imbibe the copious moisture. So inexhausted 
is the fulness of Jesus Christ, from whom all sorts 
of men, the Jews, the Gentiles, the barbarians, the 
Scythians, the bond, and the free, may receive all 
^orts of Wessings. You are not straitened in him, O 
children of men ; this river of God which is full of 
water» can never run dry, nor be exhausted, how 
abundantly soever we drink of its refreshing streams. 

The waters that flowed from the rock, were not 
only sufficient to supply the present straiis of Israel, 
but, as the sacred story tells, they followed them in 
the way, for some considerable time at least after 
the rock was smitten. So Jesus Christ imparts the 
blessed fruits of his satisfactory death, not only to 
the first ages of Christianity, but to the most distant 
ages of the world. Never shall this goodness and 
mercy cease to follow all that are Israelites indeed, 
till mortality shall be swallowed up of life, till the 
wilderness be exchanged for Canaan, and the mili- 
tant resign to the triumphant state. The winter shall 
not arrest this river in icy fetters, and the drought 
of summer shall not drink it up like a brook ; for 
thus the promise runs, by the mouth of the prophet 
Zechariah, ** In summer and winter shall it be." 

Blessed be our rock, who consented to be smitten, 
that we might drink abundantly of the river of plea- 
sures. Great was the love of David's three worthies, 
who hazarded their lives to purchase for their long- 
ing general a draught of water from the well of 
Bethlehem. But greater was the love of Jesus, who 
lost his life, and poured his precious blood, that we 
might draw water with joy from the wells of salva- 
tion, when hungry and thirsty our soul fainted in us. 
*' O that men would praise the Lord for his good- 
ness, and for his wonderful works to the children of 
men !" May this river, the streams whereof make 
glad the city of God, be our consolation in this dry 
and thirsty land. Ye broken cisterns of this world, 
sinful pleasures, vain comforts and dehghts, and our 



J 12 . TYPICAL THINGS. fiook 11. 

own legal righteousness, can you supply the place 
of this fountain of living waters ? How miserably 
are they disappointed, who exchange the one for 
the other ! They shall comeback with their pitchers 
empty ; they shall be ashamed and confounded, and 
cover their heads. How justly they deserve that 
God should bring upon them the waters of the river, 
strong and many, and pour upon them the fury of 
his anger, who refuse these waters of Shiloah that 
go softly ! Open, O Lord, the ears of sinners to hear 
thy gracious invitation, *' Ho every one that thirst- 
eth, come ye to the waters." Open their eyes to see 
this well, as once thou opened the eyes of Hagar in 
the wildernesSj lest in hell they lift up their eyes 
in torment, without a drop to cool their tongue. O 
grant us to believe on him, that wc may never thirst. 



(113) 
VI. THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 



'oomo- 



THE host of Israel had long traversed the deso- 
late wilderness^ and finding no end of their wander- 
ings, instead of accepting this punishment of their 
iniquity from the hand of the Lord, again they mur- 
mur, against him and Moses, and undervalue their 
heavenly provision, though the food of angels. The 
incensed Jehovah commands the serpents to bite 
them. The serpents obeyed, and much of the peo- 
ple died. The survivors, convinced of their error, 
confess their fault, and beg that Moses would in- 
tercede for them with their offended God. Moses 
hearkens to the people, and the Lord was intreated 
of him. But observe the strange manner wherein 
the cure was wrought. Does he kill these poisonous 
and fiery flying serpents outright? No. Does he 
drive them to some distant region of the earth, or 
remote corner of the wilderness^ where the Israel- 
ites would be annoyed with them no more ^ Nor this 
either. Or does he restrain these noxious creatures 
from stinging them, which was also possible, though 
they swarmed in the camj) ? None of all these. The 
serpents are suffered to live, suffered to remain in 
the camp, and suffered to bite as before. But a bra- 
zen serpent is by God's command lifted upon a pole, 
that it might be conspicuous from afar ; and who- 
ever snatched a look of this lifeless serpent, needed 
not fear the bite of the living ones ; for the wound 
was not mortal. ** Happy art thou, O Israel, a peo- 
ple saved by the Lord," They were hungry, and 
they had miraculous bread ; thirsty, and they were 
supplied with miraculous drink ; now they are sick 
and wounded, and they are favoured with miracu- 
lous medicine. Here indeed the scripture was ful- 
filled in the most literal sense : " Fools, because of 
their transgression, and because of their iniquities, 
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of 
roeat, and they draw near to the gates of death. 
Then they cry unto the Lord m their trouble, he 

K 2 



1 14 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II, 

saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, 
and healed theip, and delivered them from their de- 
structions." 

Let us behold in this eminent figure at once our 
miserable state by sin, and the method of our re- 
covery by Jesus Christ, who from this very thing 
preached to Nicodemus the doctrine of his cross ; 
'* For as Moses," said he, ** lifted up the serpeat 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up." 

The devil and his angels, these are the fiery fly- 
ing serpents, wlio, though invisible to the eye, have 
stung the race of Adam, and have insinuated their 
deadly poison through the whole mass of human na- 
ture ; for which we may take up the prophet's la- 
mentation, '* The whole head is sick, and the whole 
heart faint." Ever since we brake over the hedge 
of the divine law, these serpents have incessantly 
bit us. This makes the world a terrible wilderness 
indeed, a land of trouble and anguish, whence come 
the viper, and the fiery flying serpent. It is true, 
the wounds that are made by the scorpions of hell, 
may seem but slight at the first; for many a time 
they have stricken us, and we were not' grieved. But 
as the unhappy Israelite soon perceived the deadly 
venom drinking up his vitals, so shall the devil's 
fiery darts, sooner or later, inflame the conscience, 
and never fail to enkindle in the heart a burning 
fever of unsatisfied and irregular desires. It was only 
the death of the mortal body that threatened the 
stung Israelite. But the soul,* the immortal soul, is 
endangered by the bite of the infernal serpent, un- 
less an antidote can be found. And this antidote is 
the Lord Jesus Christ, of which thy serpent, Moses, 
was a figure. 

It may perhaps seem odd at first, that so noxious 
and hateful a creature as the serpent, should be 
made an emblem of the amiable and beneficent Re- 
deemer ; especially when we consider that the aer^ 
pent is a name commonly appropriated to the grand 
adversary of God and man ; and in the scripture- 
style wicked men are called serjients^ and a genera- 
tion of vificrs. But let us reflect to whom he is a 
fecrpeht: for he is to the devil what this malieious 



THE BHAZEN SERPENT. 1 1 ^ 

bpit it is unto us, that is, his destroyer. Why should 
it not be equally proper to compare the gracious 
Redeemer to the serpent as to the lion, both which 
are names of his great enemy ? What is the strength 
of the roaring lion of hell, to his strength '.vho is the 
Lion of the tribe of Judah ? And what is the subtlety 
of the devil, the old serpent, to the wisdom of Jesus 
Christ, the new ? Besides, the serpent being the first 
cursed creature, may, even on this account, be 
pitched on as a type of him who was to become a 
curse for us. But whereas the serpent of Moves was 
void of poison, and wore no sting, for it was only the 
form of a serpent ; it is natural here to think,' how 
Jesus Christ only appeared in the likeness of sinful 
flesh, but was utterly a stranger to the venom of sin, 
though in all other things made like to us, whose 
poison is as the poison of a serpent. Whether the 
strength and lustre of the brass, might be a faint 
shadow of the strength and glory of that wonderful 
Person, the God-man I shall not affirm. 

But the lifiing up this serpent seems an evident 
pi^diction of that death which Christ should die. 
Here he is evidently set forth crucified before us, 
as we are taught by himself who is the end of the 
law for righteousness, when speaking of the death 
he should die, *' And I," says he, ** if I be lifted up 
from the earth, will draw all men after me." The 
serpent was lifted up on a pole ; and Christ was 
lifted up on the accursed tree. The sei-pent was 
lifted up by Moses, the figure of the law ; and 
Christ was by the law subjected to enduring the 
cross. The serpent was lifted up in the mosc con- 
spicuous manner amid the camp of Israel ; and the 
crucifixion of the Son of God was transacted in the 
most public manner at Jerusalem, the metropolis 
of Judea. It was God who commanded the serpent 
to be lifted up in the wilderness ; and it was God 
who commanded the Lord and Saviour to lay down 
his life, and adjusted, by his determinate counsel, all 
the shameful, and all the painful circumstances of 
that awful and amazing scene. If it had not been with 
a view to its elevation on the pole. Moses had not 
been ordered to make this brazen image ; nor would 
tire Son of God appeared in the likeness of a man, 



115 TYPICAL THINGS. Book ll. 

bjat with an inb^tion to expire on the cross, and 
give his life a ransom for many. The serpent was 
lifted up, that whosoever beheld it might be healed 
and live ; and Christ was crucified, that whoso- 
ever believeth in him, might not perish, but have 
everlasting life. 

That a wounded Israelite should be saved by look- 
ing, and a perishing sinner by believing, are things 
that bear no small resemblance to each other. For 
what is believing on him, but seeing him who is in- 
visible, that, like Moses, we may endure } What is 
it but looking on him whom we have pierced, that 
we may mourn ? How fitly may the glorious words 
in the prophet Isaiah come from the mouth of the 
crucified Redeemer, " Look unto me, and be saved, 
all ye ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there 
is none else ; besides me there is no Saviour ?" Let 
us more particularly observe the likeness of their 
remedy to ours. 

It was a method of care solely contrived and ap- 
pK)inted of God, from whose ordinance alone it re- 
ceived its efficacy. Who would so much as have ima- 
gined in a dream, that to look at a dead serpent of 
brass, would cure the bite of a living serpent? 
Should reason be allowed to give her verdict, she 
would perhaps be so far from pronouncing it a pro- 
per expedient, that she would rather judge it a 
gross absurdity ; especially if it be true what some 
affirm, that the sight of burnished brass is naturally 
pernicious to them who are bitten of serpents ; and 
if it be true what is also asserted, that to see but the 
shape of any venomous creature, increases the tor- 
ment of the unhappy sufferer whom it bit. Exactly 
so; the method of our recovery by the cross of Je- 
sus Christ, is a device that claims God himself for 
its only original. The world by wisdom never would 
have arrived at the knowledge of it, nay, it is a thing 
they are highly offended with, for it is in them that 
perish foolishness : but to them that are saved, it is 
the wisdom of God, and the power of God unto sal- 
vation, to every one that believeth. Though reason 
would not have thought, God has ordained it. To 
this alone must all its efficacy be ascribed : for " it 
is the will of the Father, that whosoever seeth the 



THE BRAZEN SERPENT. II7 

Son, and believes on him, should not perish, but hav^ 
everlasting life?" 

It was a method of-cure that never failed, being 
no less sure than strange. Not an Israelite died, 
as Moses assures us, who looked at the brazen ser- 
pent. Where were they ever ashamed that put 
their trust in Christ ? Were they ever disappointed 
in their expectations, that believed in him tor ever- 
lasting life. ^ 

It was a method of cure' that might be easily put 
in practice by an Israelite, if he was not blind. 
Perhaps he might happen to receive his wound in 
some remote place of the camp, and though it should 
have effected him in such a manner, that he could 
neither move hand nor foot , yet without stirring 
from the place where he was, without sending for 
physicians to apply their medicines, he was saved 
by one glance of his eye. In like manner, if the god 
of this world has not blinded our minds, we are saved, 
not by working, but by believing. The works of the 
law are physicians of no value to the distressed con- 
science; but Christ is a present help, and to find 
him we need neither climb up into heaven, nor de- 
scend into the deep. 

It was a remedy that might be repeated as often 
as there was occasion for it. So Christ is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, to whom we may warranta- 
bly have recourse as often as we are wounded by 
hellish temptations, and in every time of need. Yet 
let no abuser of this heavenly doctrine infer, that 
because the remedy is at hand, they may be careless 
and secure, and expose themselves at random to the 
painful stings of the infernal serpents. What Israel- 
ite would been so mad as to handle these hateful 
creatures, and court them to instil their venom, with 
no other design than to try the experiment of the 
brazen serpent's virtue ? Would not this been a 
horrid preservation of that healing ordinance, and 
at least a tempting the Lord ? But the truth is, the 
human race do not more abhor the touch and neigh- 
bourhood of serpents of every kind, than an Israel- 
ite indeed,^ or a sincere believer, when acting up to 
his character, will abhor even all approaches to 
temptation. It is every whit as reasonable to suppose, 



118 TYPICAL THINGS. Book IL 

that because the serpents in the wilderness were not 
permitted to destroy the Israelites, by reason of 
their heavenly antidote, therefore they loved the 
serpents, and delighted in their society, as it is to 
suppose, that the true Christian can be encouraged 
to sin, or love that which he hates, because of abound* 
ing grace. 

It v/as a remedy that proved effectual, without 
all doubt, to the Israelite who used it, though his 
visive faculty had been ever so weak. So the weakest 
faith, if genuine, is saving as the strongest, because 
its object is the same* 

It was, in short, a remedy that ascribed the whole 
glory to God ; even as in the work of our salvation 
by Jesus Christ all boasting is excluded. While the 
believing soul treads upon the adder, and tramples 
the dragon under feet, and says, " () death, where 
is thy sting?" O Satan where is thy power? Let 
him also say. Thanks be unto God that gives us 
the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



( 119 ) 



VU. THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 

THE law-giver of the Jews having ascended the 
second time to mount Sinai, where he obtained a 
sight of the divine glor}% and got the second tables 
inscribed anew, with the linger of God, after the 
first were broken, he now descends to the camp 
with the tables in his hand but is greatly surprised, 
*o see his brother Aaron, and other Israelites, filled 
with perturbation at his approach, and afraid to look 
him in the face. Such horror might indeed have 
well become them the first time he descended ; for 
they had, during his absence, been guilty of that 
almost unpardonable crime, the making the golden 
calf, which they could not but suspect would be 
highly resented both by God and Moses. But now 
their peace was made, and their prophet comes with 
the pledges of reconciUation in his hand, what can 
be the reason (might he say to himself) of my bre- 
thren's running away from me, as I were still their 
enemy? The face of Moses was equally meek as 
before ; but though the features were the same, it 
shone with a glory visible to every body but himself. 
This strange phneomenon was the cause of that aw- 
ful distance they kept. But perceiving that his voice 
was the same, though his face altered, they resume 
their courage, and venture to approach him, though 
still they dare not come to any close interview with 
their shining law-giver, till, in condescension to their 
weakness, he put a vail upon his glorious face. Such 
honour it pleased God to confer on his faithful ser- 
vant, not only to inspire the minds of the Israelites 
with greater reverence for him, but chiefly to dig- 
nify that dispensation of which he was the minister. 
We are not told how long this miraculous brightness 
lasted, but in all appearance it was not of long dura- 
tion, and vanquished gradually away, to signify the 
transient nature of that oeconomy. 

Moses himself, perhaps, intended no more by 
vailing his face, than what is expressed in the his- 



120 TYPICAL THIKGS. Book It. 

tory. However, the wisdom of the Holy Ghost hav- 
ing given us an allegorical interpretation of this ac- 
tion, by the mouth of the apostle Paul, let us dwell 
upon it' a little. 

The vail upon the face of Moses, according to that 
eminent apostle, did signify, that, partly through the 
obscurity of their law, and partly through the blind- 
ness of their hearts, the children of Israel could not 
stedfastly look to the end of that which was abolished. 
Now that which was abolished is their legal dispen- 
sation, and the end of that which was abolished is 
Jesus Christ himself, who is the end of the law for 
righteousness as having fulfilled its meaning, can- 
celled its authority, and introduced in its room a far 
more excellent oeconomy. 

What, may some reply, did Israel not know the 
meaning of their law ? Was it the intention of the 
Almighty to conceal from them a thing in which 
they are so highly interested ? Had they no suffi- 
cient intimations, that their ritual institutions did 
point at better things, and were, in future time, ca- 
pable of repeal, and would actually receive an end ? 

In answer to this, it is not at all denied but there 
•were many things in the writings and law of Moses, 
that not obscurely hinted its true design. The vail 
of Moses was not so thick and broad, but some rays 
of his light did actually transpire. Even as the dark- 
ness and blackness that involved the frighted sum- 
mit of mount Sinas, was interspersed with flashes of 
lightning, and gleams of fire. The attentive Israelite, 
who meditated upon the law of the Lord day and 
night, might know that more was meant than was 
plainly expressed. The constant expectation of a 
Messias. which universally obtained in all ages of 
the Jewish church, might fully convince them of the 
weakness of their riles, to do what they seemed to 
promise, and that the ceremonial law was far from 
being the whole of their rehgion. They had it hinted 
unto them, in the dying benediction of their great 
forefather, that their judicial law should not be 
always observed, but that a period should arrive, 
when the sceptre should depart from the royal tribe. 
A small measure of acquaintance with their own 
hearts^ might have easily persuaded, that the de- 



THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 121' 

mands of the moral law, or ten commandments, 
were too rigid for them ever to hope justification by 
their compliance with them : for however much it 
may be thought, by superficial observers, that the 
first nine precepts in the law may be fulfilled by an 
imperfect creature ; yet it is evident, that the very 
letter of the tenth commandment forbids the sins of 
the heart, and all the motions of concupiscence. 
How can the proudest legalist plume himself with 
the foolish conceit of being able to conform himself 
in all respects to the very letter of the law, when 
the very letter of the law says, ** Thou shalt not 
covet?" — If then there were many Israelites who 
rested in the law, without looking any further, and 
fondly imagined that it was able to give them eter- 
nal life, this fatal mistake was not chiefly owing to 
the obscurity of their dispensation, but to the blind- 
ness of their hearts, that were hard as the stones on 
which their law was written, and vailed as their 
law-giver's face. 

But, after all, it must be confessed, the law and 
holy books of Moses have much obscurity in them^ 
when compared with the great plainness of speech 
used by the apostles in the New Testament. They 
may be compared to a fine picture placed in a dark 
corner, though its principal figures may be discerned 
by a penetrating eye, it is, however, impossible the 
delicate touches of the pencil, the distributions of 
light and shade, the beauty of the tints, the elegancy 
ot the designs, can be thoroughly perceived by the 
most vigorous sight, till the finished piece is trans- 
lated from its obscure situation, and set in an advan- 
tageous light. 

One that reads the writings of Moses, and throws 
but a cursory glance over the moral, the ceremonial, 
and the judicial law, without remembering, that, 
like Moses, they put a vail on their face, he would 
be very apt to mistake the true design of the whole 
system, and to entertain many erroneous opinions 
that are really inconsistent with its original inten- 
tion, though they seem to be founded upon it. One 
would think the ceremonial worship prescribed so 
minutely by Moses, must certainly have been very 
acceptable to God even for its ov/n sake, or he 

L 



122 TYPI€AL THINGS. Baok II. 

would never been at the pains to adjust, fey his ex- 
press authority, the smallest circumstances relative 
unto it. One would almost imagine, that the Deity 
took pleasure to eat the flesh of bulls, and drink the 
blood of goats ; that he is displeased with outward 
corporeal uncleanness ; that the beauty of his wor- 
ship consists in the outward pomp of splendid rites ; 
that the blood of slaughtered beasts was able to take 
away sin ; that man has still a power to obey the 
moral law ; that we must enter into life by keeping 
the commandments; that righteousness can come 
by the law ; that the natural seed of Abraham could 
never be rejected from being the people of God ; 
that their civil state should be unhinged, and their 
ceremonies should never be abolished. These, and 
many such false opinions, might been suggested by 
the terms in which the law is uttered. And many a 
carnal Jew was taken in this snare. Even 7^72^0 this 
day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their 
hearts. 

In vain did the prophets endeavour to pull this vail 
aside, and reclaim from these vain imaginations that 
stiffnecked people, the bulk ot whom persevere in 
their absurd prejudices, and presumptuous expecta- 
tions to this very day. 

If any should enquire, why the revelation of the 
divine will was not equally plain in the past as in the 
present age ? why the God with whom light dwells, 
would deliver a law to his people, of which the true 
design and genuine scope was not obvious at the first 
view.' It is not for us to dive into the eternal coun- 
sels. It was the will of God that it should be so ; and 
who dare say to him, IVhat dost thou ? Let us 
rather observe how the vail was gradually removed^ 
till Moses stands confessed, and the designs of his 
cEConomy is no longer a mystery, since the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. 

Much is said in the prophetic scriptures, that might 
have undeceived the blind Jews, and taught them to 
abate their vain confidence in their national privile- 
ges, their ceremonial observances, and their moraL 
righteousnesses. The grand doctrines of Christianity 
relating to the Person, the character, and mediation 
of Jesus Christ, are laid down in these venerable 



THOUGHTS ON THE VAIL OF MOSES. 123 

-writings with greater perspicuity than in the books 
of Moses. But though the prophets harmoniously 
conspire in giving their suffrage to every Christian 
doctrine ; yet still they put upon their face the vail 
of poetical figures, and ceremonial phrases. They 
describe spiritual blessings by images of civil peace 
and plenty. With them the victory of Jesus Christ 
is treading of a winepress, in which the wine is the 
blood of slaughtered enemies ; prayer is incense, 
and a pure offering; conversion is going up to Jeru- 
salem ; gospel-worship is the celebration of the fes- 
tival of the Jews. 

But now comes John the Baptist, the harbinger 
of Christ, who talks still plainer than Moses or the 
prophets ; and instead of commending the LeviUcal 
sacrifices, he invites his hearers to regard that un- 
known Person to whom he pointed as thecomplete- 
ment of them all, '' Behold the Lamb of God, that 
takes away the sin of the world." 

But by the ministry of Christ and his blessed apos- 
tles, the law is wholly unmasked, and the vail on 
Moses's face entirely done away. The lowly birth. 
Indigent life, and ignominious death of the Messias 
himself, was an incontestible proof, that his kingdom 
is not of this world, as the Jews expected. Though 
he was the great High-Priest he gave no attendance 
at the altar; and his forerunner, though born a Le- 
vite, never officiated in the temple. This was a plain 
declaration, that he was come to abrogate these 
ancient rites. But if we attend to the strain of his 
doctrine, it will appear how it was calculated to re- 
move the vail, and cure the prejudices of the mis- 
taken Jews. He taught that a man is not defiled by 
what enters in at the mouth ; foretold that their city 
and temple, the centre of their worship, should be 
razed ; and that a spiritual worship should be esta- 
blished over all the world, and might be presented 
unto God in every place. That he might pave the 
way for explaining the grand doctrine of justification 
by his imputed righteousness, he expatiated upon 
the vast extent of the moral law, and frequently in- 
culcated the sad depravity of human nature. He 
spoke of himself as the fulfiUer of all righteousness. 



124 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

the heavenly manna, and the antitype of the ser- 
pent Ufted up in the wilderness. 

But after his ascension, he inspired his apostles 
to finish what he had only begun, and completely 
remove that vail which Moses put upon his face. 
By their apostohc decree, they instructed the Chris- 
tian Gentiles in their New Testament liberty ; and 
by their epistles addressed to the primitive churches, 
they entirely dissipated the obscurity of the Old 
Testament shadows. Now it appears that the king- 
dom of God is not meats and drinks, but righteous- 
ness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; that the 
Mosaic law was only a schoolmaster to tutor the 
•chuiK:h in her childish state, and train her up for a 
more perfect institmion. Now we plainly see, that 
righteousness cannot possibly come by the law, nor 
pardon by the sacrifices. If the vail is not still upon 
<)ur hearts, we may behold with open face the glory 
of the Lord, and be changed into the same image, 
from glory to gloiy. Now the face of the covering 
spread over all people, and the vail cast over all 
nations, is entirely destroyed; and therefore, O 
house of Israel, corae and let us walk in the light of 
4he Lord. 



( 125 ) 



, VIII. OF SACRIFICES. 

00000 

SACRIFICING is a religious action, in which a 
creature devoted to God was in a solemn manner 
destroyed in his presence, for sacred ends ; and it 
was a mode of worship that obtained in the most 
early ages of the world. It may not only be traced 
up to the famous aera of giving the law from mount 
Sinai ; for the ancient patriarchs did commonly 
practise it. How many altars were built by Abra- 
ham, and his grandchild Jacob } Melchizedec was a 
priest of the most high God; Job offered sacrifices 
ooth for his children and for his friends ; and God 
smelled a savour of rest, when Noah sacrificed clean 
beasts and birds upon the altar which he builded 
unto the Lord. But why do I mention these venera- 
ble personages as the most ancient practise rs of sa- 
crificial worship, when it may be more than am- 
jectured, that Adam himself did use it ? Can we 
think, when Abel offered unto the Lord the first- 
lings of his flock, that his father did not instruct him 
to testify in this manner his fear of the Lord } And 
what shall we say of the coats of skins which the 
Lord made for them, or directed them to make } 
The beasts to whom they belonged cannot so soon 
after the creation be supposed to have died of age. 
They behoved therefore to be slain. How natural to 
suppose that they were slain in sacrifice, rather than 
for any other use.^ Perhaps it was not without a 
mystery, that the skins of these beasts should clothe 
their bodies, whose blood made atonement for their 
souls. To be short then, though we can by no means 
assent, that in the state of innocence there would 
been the least occasion for them, they seem, how- 
ever, to be as ancient as the promise about the seed 
of the woman, who was to have his heel bruised, 
while he bruised the serpent's head. 

The antiquity of sacrifices being supposed, let us 
now see by whose authority they were first enjoined. 
And it will be certainly found, that as their date is 

L 2 



;|26 TYPICAL THINGS. Book IL. 

ancient, their original is divine. That God prescribed 
them to his chosen people, is not disputed ; for a 
great part of the sacred volume is occupied in de- 
scribing the various laws by which this species of 
worship should be adjusted. Bat what shall we think 
of the sacrifices that were offered by the patriarctis 
before the law ? Were they acts of will-worship ? 
Did they contrive this mode* of adoration from their 
own brains? Did the light of nature dictate, that 
the Deity could be delighted with butchering, slay- 
ing, and burning a harmless brute, or otherwise 
destroying creatures that were inanimate.^ No: 
neither did the light of nature dictate them, nor 
blind superstition, but the sovereign will, and posi- 
tive command of God, is their original warrant. Be 
it so, we read of the practice, before we read of the 
precept ; still from the former we may fairly infer 
the latter; for such eminent saints would never 
have adventured to express their devotion in such 
a strange manner, if they had not been required to 
do so by the declared will of God. Indeed without 
such a persuasion they could not have offered in faith ; 
and we are assured, by an authority too great to be 
controverted, that the first man whose sacrifice is 
expressly mentioned in scripture, offered through 
faith a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, of which 
the Deity was pleased to testify his acceptance, by 
some distinguishing marks of regard. Now, let us 
even suppose these primitive believers might been 
so presumptuous as to invent, or practise, without 
the command of God, such bloody rites, it can never 
!>e admitted, that God, who has upon all occasions 
testified his displeasure against the inventions of men 
in his worship, would have smiled upon such self- 
devised modes of adoration. Instead of testifying of 
their gifts, accepting their burnt-offerings, would 
he not rather have upbraided them, as in the words 
of that well-known reproof, ** Who hath required 
this at your hands?" Upon the whole, then, it is 
easy to see, that sacrifices were not offered without 
the command of God. And it is more than proba- 
ble, that the precept and the practice are of equal 
age; that these holy rites were commanded imme- 
diately after the re -admission of our first parents into 



OF SACRIFICES. I2f 

the divine favour upon the back of their apostacy ; — 
that the universal custom of sacrificing was received 
by tradition from the first man ; — and that after the 
true design of the institution was lost among the de- 
generate nations, the ceremony itself was still pre- 
served. 

Well then, the custom was ancient, was divine ; 
and surely it was for some important end God would 
command, and the best of men practise it, for the 
space of four thousand years. What could move the 
eternal Majesty to require for so long a time, that 
sacrifices should be an essential part of his worship ? 
Was there any real excellency in these actions, that 
might render them pleasing to God for their own 
sake ? Were they to be put on an equal or superior 
footing to acts of moral service.^ Not at all. Himself 
declares in the most positive manner, even in the 
age of sacrifices, that to offer thanksgiving', and pay 
their vows, to do justly, and love mercy, were actions 
far preferable to loading his altar with the most 
costly oblations; — that though men had been ever 
so punctual in this kind of worship, they were not 
immediately entitled to the character of saints, what- 
ever course of action they steered in their other de- 
portment towards God, or their fellow-creatures. 
Yea, so far were sacrifices from being able to recom- 
mend the persons of wicked sinners to God, that, on 
the contrary, their sins when resolutely persisted in, 
rendered not only their persons, but their sacrifices, 
detestable unto him. He loathed, he despised, he 
abhorred, his soul was weary to bear them. That 
they did really a:one for ceremonial guilt, or sanctify 
to the purifying of the flesh, may indeed be allowed ; 
but that they could really atone for moral guilt, purge 
the conscience from dead works, or be acceptable 
to the divine Majesty for their own sake, is denied 
by scripture, reason, and even by the sacrifices 
themselves. —It is denied by scripture.— For in the 
prophet Micah, rivers of oil, and thousands of rams, 
are denied to be an adequate propitiation. And this 
needs not be wondered at. for what is still more, the 
first-born, we are assured in the same place, would 
not be accepted for transgression, nor the fruit of 
the body for the sin of the soul.— It is denied by rea- 



128 Xi'PICAL THINGS. Book II. 

son. — For reason herself being judge, where were 
the justice to punish a harmless beast for the sins of 
its owner ? What proportion betwixt the sin of a 
man, and the sufferings of a brute ? Can the Majesty 
of heaven indeed be prevailed upon to lay aside his 
just anger for such a puny satisfaction r Then, Si- 
nai, thy thunders are vanished into smoke, and there 
was no occasion to publish with such solemnity and 
terror to the trembling Israehtes that fiery law, 
whose curses may be so easily avoided. — But let us 
ask even the sacrifices themselves, they will con- 
fess their insufficiency to expiate moral guilt ; for 
there were many sins that were not to be purged 
with sacrifice or offering. Let David bear witness, 
who says to God concerning his complicated crime 
of adultery and deliberate murder, " Thou desirest 
not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest 
not in burnt-offering." Besides the repetition of these 
sacrifices is a most invincible proof, that it was not 
in them to make them perfect that offered: for then 
would they not have ceased to be offered? Surely 
they would ; for the worshippers once purged, should 
have had no more conscience of sin, 

Wa^ it then impossible that the blood of bulls and 
goats should take away sin, notwithstanding the an- 
tiqiiity and divine original of the custom to offer sa- 
crifice ? Having removed the false end of their insti- 
tution, let us examine into the real intention; and 
we shall have a particular eye to the offerings under 
the (Economy of Moses. And here it will not be con- 
tradictetl, though one should affirm, that sundry 
circumstances in the law of sacrifices might be in- 
tended to convey moral instructions. For instance, 
that the brutish qualities of the sacrificed beasts, 
might signify the vices or lusts which we ought to 
mortify for the honour of God ; or that the virtuous 
quahties of the victims, suppose meekness, patience, 
and the like, might denote those graces and virtues 
which the worshipper of God should cultivate in his 
own heart. It must not be denied, that the ancient 
ceremonial worshij) might be a figure of that rea- 
sonable service which is ever due to the supreme 
Being in all the different states of the rational crea- 
tirre. But though these, and other considerations. 



OF SACRIFICES. 129 

may have their proper weight and place, we have 
not yet found out the adequate reason of these mys- 
terious institutions. In thy bloody death, O Jesus, 
we see the great antitype of these legal oblations. 
Most certainly* they were public acknowledgments 
of guilt, and professions of faith in the grand propi- 
tiation, which they believed should appear in the 
end of the world. Tell us, thou sweet singer of 
Israel, who is he that shall do for us what the law 
could not do. In tlie fortieth psalm. David speaking 
not of himself, but of a far more glorious Person, has 
these most emphatical words : ** Sacrifice and offer- 
ing thou didst not desire : burnt-offering and sin-of- 
fering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I 
come to do thy will, O God," It was not Christ who 
came to imitate the sacrifices, but the sacrifices 
were ordained to prefigure him. They were the 
shadow of future good things, but the body is of 
Christ. When Christ was first revealed, the sacri- 
fices seem to have been practised; and when he 
died, they ceased to be offered. The temple heard 
his dying groan, and rent her veil in presence of the 
priesthood, as they offered the evening sacrifice. 
From this time forth shall your office be vacated, 
ye legal priests. Ye beasts of the field, no more shall 
you smoke as victims on God's altar, for the mer- 
ciful High-priest has now given himself an offer- 
ing and a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour unto 
God. Now, if with the prediction of his death they 
began, and ended with the accomplishment, what 
can be more plain than the relation betwixt them, 
as the shadow and the substance ? Set this relation 
aside, and it is impossible to vindicate to any advan- 
tage the original appointment of sacrifices, or to ac- 
count for their abolition after they were injoined. 
Should any be contentious in this point, we have an 
entire book in the canon of the New Testament, in 
which the professed argument is the resemblance of 
the Old Testament sacrifices to the true propitia- 
tion. Let us here glance at some of the most glaring 
parallels only betwixt the sacrifice of Moses and the 
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

And, first. We may take notice of the qualities of 
the sacrificed creatures, especially of the animal 



130 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II, 

kind. It was not left a matter of indifference, and 
wholly in the option of God's peculiar people, with 
what victims they shojld stain his altars.— -They be- 
hoved to be clean creatures, according to the law, 
fit to be eaten for the support of hurnan life, and to 
be one with the offerer in some sense, by their apti- 
tude for digestion into the substance of his body. 
This was an evident memorial of the sanctity of the 
great propitiation, and that he should be a partaker 
of the same flesh and blood with those for whom he 
should die > for it was requisite, that both he that 
sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, be all of 
one. — The integrity and perfection which God re- 
quired in the bodies of these beasts, may easily be 
accommodated to the glorious antitype, who would 
been wholly incapacitate by any of the smallest 
blemish, from the discharge of his priestly function. 
For though it became the typical nation of the Jews 
to have an high-priest involved in the same guilt of 
actual transgression with his brethren, who was 
therefore to offer first for his own sin, before he 
presumed to offer for the errors of the people : yet 
such an Hi((h-Priest became us, who is holy, harm- 
iesft, uncifjiled, and sefiarated from sinners. — They 
were, further, to be valuable and beloved creatures, 
as lambs that are for clothing, and goats that are 
the price of the field, and he that offered them was 
put to cost and damage, as indeed in the first ages 
of mankind the riches of the most opulent possessor 
consisted chiefly in flocks and herds. What forbids 
us to think here of Jesus Christ being the darling of 
his Fa! her, and precious to them that beheve ? O 
the invaluable treasure of blood that was paid for 
the redemption of the soul ! In comparison hereof, 
what is silver and gold, and all corruptible things? 
Ransack the bowels of the mountains, for all the 
glowing gems formed there in dark retirements, 
when compared to the precious blood of the Lamb, 
they are poor and beggarly acquisitions, and con- 
verted into pebble stones fit to be trampled under 
feet.— Moreover, there behoved to be found in the 
destined victims some amiable qualities resembling 
moral virtues. They were not permitted to sacrifice 
the stupid ass, or ihe sordid swine, though tame 



OF SACRIFICES. 131 

creatures; far less were the fierce inhabitants of 
the forest, as wolves, bears, lions, to come upon 
God's altar. But the sacrifices in which he delighted 
were the gentle dove, the patient and laborious ox, 
the meek lamb, and the sheep that is dumb before 
the shearer and the butcher. Who sees not in these 
characters the very picture of the meek, lowly pa- 
tient, and uncomplaining Saviour ot tiie "vo/id. who 
opened not his mouth when he was led a.s a lanb to 
the slaughter? A circumstance this, wbi/ '^_:e-xt to the 
dignity of his Person, did contrib^c^ tv (he value of 
his satisfactory deaih. — It is also wortiiy of notice, 
that of all these beasts, the first-born was most ac- 
ceptable, and, according to the mw, uli such were 
holy unto the Lord. Was not this a prelude that he 
whom God would give to expiate our transgression, 
should be the first-born among many brethren whom 
they should honour as the excellency of dignity, and 
to whom they should owe their deliverance from 
death, and their title to the inheritance ? — I shall 
only further hint, that whereas God was not only 
pleased when the rich men offered of their larger 
cattle, but when the poor men brought turtle-doves 
and pigeons. Might not this put us in mind how the 
sacrifice which God accepts is equally accessible to 
the poor and the rich ? And truly, as the legal sa- 
crifices were chargeable, in less, or more, to all that 
presented them, the real and better sacrifice costs 
us nothing; for we may buy it without money, and 
without price. 

From the qualities of the victims, let us go on to 
the sacred rites of oblation, and we shall find some- 
thing in our great sacrifice corresponding to them 
all. When the creature that wa% to surrender its 
life for its owner was pitched upon, it was brought 
unto the priest, and solemnly sisted before the Lord. 
But our Lord Jesus was not brought b)r others, like 
the irrational animal; but he voluntarily presented 
himselfbefore the Lord, when his time was fully come. 
Fully apprised of what was to be done unto him, he 
set his tace to go up to Jerusalem, and patiently ex- 
pected in the melancholy garden the coming of the 
traitor, and his band of armed men, to whom he was 
to deliver himself. The sacred animal being sisted 
before the Lord, was rendered ceremonially guilty. 



132 TYPICAL THINGS. Book Ih 

by the imposition of hands on its head, and by con- 
fessing over it the sins of the olFerer. It was the 
Lord himself that laid on him the iniquities of us all. 
O Jesus, it is our guilt alone that can justify the Judge 
of all the earth in taking pleasure to bruise thee ! 
And this doubtless was one great reason why he 
opened not his mouth, while the Roman governor 
wondered at his silence. It was this consideration 
that fortified his mind at the approach of his incon- 
ceivably xKer agonies, and held in his mouth as 
with a brioiv when these astonishing words dropped 
from his hps, ** Now is my soul troubled, and what? 
shall I say r" — In the next place, the blood of the 
innocent animal, now made guilty by imputation, 
was shed, was poured out, and sprinkled around ; 
for without the shedding' of blood was no remission 
of sin. Talk not, ye papists, of an unbloody sacrifice 
of expiation. That it is the blood that makes atone- 
ment for the soul, is asserted by the God of Israel 
himself who expressly assigns this reason of the 
strict prohibition given to his ancient people, " No 
soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger 
that sojourns among you." It is easy to see how this 
prefigured the violent death of the Son of God, who 
poured out his soul unto death, and whose blood 
cleanses from all sin. — The pulling of the skin from 
the butchered animals, dividing their bodies, and 
burning them with fire, are certainly intended to 
denote the exquisite torments he was to endure, 
when the assembly of the wicked inclosed him, and 
his heart was melted in the midst of his bowels like 
wax before the fire. — The towering of the smoke 
to heaven, which was sometimes perfumed with 
burning incense, sjgnified, how acceptable the sacri- 
fice of Christ should be to God, and of what sweet- 
smelling savour. — In the time of offering, prayers 
were offered up. And we know that in the days of 
his flesh he offered up prayers, tears, strong cries, 
to him that was able to save him from death.— The 
blowing of trumpets, and praising God, in the time 
of the holy rites, with music vocal and instrumen- 
tal, which was often practised, may no doubt put 
us in mind of that praise which waiteth for God in 
Zion, on account of purging away our transgression 
by himself, which would prevailed for ever against 



OF SACRIFICES. 133^ 

US. — The carrying the blood of the victims into the 
holy place, the figure of the heavenly sanctuary, 
corresponds to the intercession of our High -Priest 
within the vail, where he appears as a Lamb that 
has been slain. 

When the holy rites were finished, atonement was 
made. The guilt of the offerer was abolished, when 
his victim was destroyed ; the anger of God was in 
some manner appeased, and he gave Shgns of recon- 
ciliation. But as we shewed before, it was not in 
these ceremonial actions to atone for any moral 
gilt, except in a typical way. But he whom God 
hath set forth for a propitiation, hath, in the most 
proper sense, fully expiated the sins of all his peo- 
ple, who have lived, or shall live. In his atonement 
the believers of ancient and later times have re- 
joiced, as the sok foundation of their hope. And na- 
tions yet unborn shall be justified by him from all 
things from which they could not be justified by 
Moses's law. 

The fire that came down from heaven, and con- 
sumed the sacrifices, which doubtless was kept alive 
by the priests upon the altar, was it not an emblem 
of that fierce burning wrath which preyed upon the 
soul of the incarnate Son of God ? or was it an em- 
blem of the Holy Spirit, through whom he offered 
up himself, and who is styled the Sfiirit of burning ? 
or else the fire might signify that fervent love to God 
and man, which many waters could not quench. It 
was love that wrought his death ; by this holy and 
pure flame was our atoning sacrifice reduced into 
ashes. 

The altar, what was it? His cross, say some. 
Nay, it was rather his divine natur^, which like the 
altar supported, and like the altar sanctified, his 
holy humanity, which alone was destroyed. This the 
cross can scarce be said to do, which was but the 
instrument of man's cruelty, and a despicable piece 
of timber, which neither sanctified the body which 
it carried, nor received sanctification from it. Where 
then are they who address it with divine honours, 
and pay even to its picture that homage which is 
due to him alone that expired in agonies on that 
shameful tree. 

M 



( 134 ) 
IX. THE ORDINANCE OF THE PASSOVEK. 

THE fatal night was now arrived, when the de- 
stroying angel was to smite all the first-bom of 
Egypt, and the chief of their strength in the taber- 
nacles of Ham. This last and sorest plague shall 
break the unrelenting heart of Pharaoh, and dismiss 
the oppressed Israelites from his cruel yoke. But 
mark the goodness of their God, in providing for 
their safety amidst the general devastation ! They 
are directed to sprinkle on their door posts the blood 
of a lamb, whose qualities, the manner of its death, 
and the rites wherewith they were to eat its flesh, 
are very minutely prescribed, and left upon record 
for the generations to come. The messenger of death, 
they were assured, would not presume to enter these 
hallowed doors, though a thousand did fall at their 
side, and ten thousand on their right hand. Then it 
was that the Egyptian idols did also feel the ven- 
geance of the true God: and so memorable was the 
night, that the month in which it fell, was, in all 
succeeding ages, to be the beginning of months, or 
the first month of the year. A ceremony indeed it 
was that seemed but weak, unmeaning, and unpro- 
fitable : but, penetrating the outward vail, let us try 
to discern the hidden mystery, by that same faith 
through which Moses kept the passover, and the 
sprinkhng of blood, that he which destroyed the 
first-born should not touch him. Its meaning we are 
not now left to explore by our own wit: for that it was 
a prophetical type, and a very expressive image of 
the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the 
world, an inspired apostle gives us to know, by tell- 
ing us, that *' Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.'* 

A lamb was chosen out of the flock: Emblematical 
of him who was taken from among men, and raisen up 
from among his brethren, and, like that lovely crea- 
ture, did injuiy to none, though he received from 
many, and is useful in fife and death, being at once 
our clothing and our food. — It was a male of the 



THE ORDIXANCE OF THE PASSOVER. 135 

flock of a year old ; for Christ is a Son given unto 
us, and suffered in the flower of his age. — But with- 
out blemish and without spot. Though descended 
from an impure race of ancestors, he brought no stain 
of sin into the world with him. And though he long 
conversed with sinful men, and grappled with strong 
temptations, he contracted not the smallest taint. 
Even Judas and Pilate attested that he was just and 
upright; the last before he condemned, and the 
first after he betrayed him. — On the fourteenth day 
of the month Abib, the lamb was fetched from the 
field, and on the nineteenth day at even it was killed 
by all the Jews in the place which the Lord did 
choose. Even so he of whom these things were spo- 
ken, went up to Jerusalem five days before the pass- 
over, where with wicked hands he was taken, cru- 
cified, and slain. — The lamb was roasted with fire. 
It was the fire of the Father's wrath, O immaculate 
Lamb of God, that forced thee to complin, ** My 
heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my 
bowels. My strength is dried like a potsherd : my 
tongue cleaves to my jaws." — A bone of the lamb 
was not to be broken, and none of it was to be left 
until morning. To accomplish the first, the soldiers 
brake not his legs, as Was usual; and to fulfil the 
last, he was taken down from the cross the same 
evening in which he died. — In vain had the Israel- 
ites killed the lamb, if they had not also sprinkled 
its blood with the hyssop upon the door-posts. And 
Christ is to us dead in vain, unless applied by faith 
unto the conscience. His blood must not be sprinkled 
behind the door ; for we must publicly profess, that 
yvQ are not ashamed of the cross of Christ : nor be- 
low the door ; for it must not be trodden under foot ; 
but above, and on every side, on all that we are, on 
all that we have, |nd on all we do. Indeed by his 
all-penetrating eye, the doors of the house and heart 
are seen with equal clearness. Had a presumptu- 
ous Israelite despised this ordinance of God, and 
neglected to sprinkle his doors with blood, he was 
not within the limits of the divine protection ; yea, 
he had ventured abroad in that perilous night, the 
angel was not bound to spare him. So when the 
arrows of destruction are flying thick and fast, the 



136 TYPICAL THINGS. Book IX, 

blood of Jesus is our only sanctuary. Of this only can 
we say, See, O God, our shield: we are indebted to 
thy atoning blood for blessings that far transcend 
deliverance from Egyptian bondage, or from tem- 
poral death. By thy blood we are delivered from the 
wrath that is to come. Thou art our hiding-place. 
Under this covert of thy blood, we shall not be afraid 
of sudden fear, nor of the desolation of the wicked ; 
but shall dwell in peaceable habitations, sure dwel- 
lings, and quiet resting places, nigh which no plague 
shall come. — Many a time the haughty tyrant of 
Egypt was frighted by the awful prodigies wrought 
by Moses, but never was he thoroughly subdued'till 
the blood was sprinkled. Then the prey was taken 
from the mighty. In vain he pursues after them, for 
never more shall they wear his chain. So many a 
time the prophecies of Christ might fright the black 
prince of hell, but never was he thoroughly subdued, 
till on the cross he spoiled principalities and powers, 
and made a shew of them openly, triumphing over 
them in it. Even so his elect people are said to over- 
come, by the blood of the Lamb, the enemy of their 
salvation. By this same blood the idols are utterly 
abolished. As in that night of desolation the temples 
of Egypt were not spared more than the palaces ; 
so in the days of the Messiah, shall a man cast his 
idols of silver and gold, which he made for himself 
to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the 
clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged 
rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his 
majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 
Well may this happy period be unto us the begin- 
ning of months. If the beginning of the year was 
changed to the Israehtes, and the seventh became 
the first month, much more may the beginning of the 
week be altered to the Christians, and the seventh 
day be changed for the first, for a sabbath unto the 
Lord . for on that day a much more glorious work 
was finished, than when he brought Israel out of 
Egypt, or even when he finished the heavens, and 
all their host, and laid the foundation of the earth. 
We have seen how the blood of the Lamb was 
sprinkled, and the happy consequences of this sym- 
bolical action, let us now attend how its flesh was to 



THE ORDINAI^CE OF THE PASSOVER. \27 

be eaten, and how we are made partakers of Christ, 
who is at once our shield to protect us from danger, 
and our food to preserve our soul in life. It was 
eaten roasted, for Christ is savoury to faith. A bone 
must not be broken, and mysteries must not be too 
curiously pried into. A whole lamb must be eaten 
in every house; and a whole Christ received by 
every believing soul. It must be eaten in haste ; and 
whatsoever our hands findeth, should be done with 
all our might. The bitter herb3 signified the bitter- 
ness of contrition for sin, and of the tribulation we 
shall have in this world. Unleavened bread is sin- 
cerity and truth. The loins girt, and feet shod, sig- 
nifies the girding up the loins of the mind, and tha 
preparation of the gospel of peace, or a readiness 
to every good work. The staff in the hand might 
signify, that here we have uo continuing city. The 
passover was only to be eaten by the circumcised 
and the clean ; but if a man was unclean by reason 
of a dead body, or in a journey afar off, he was per- 
mitted to keep a second passover on the fourteenth 
day of the second month. Here let us end adoring 
that condescending love that has appeared toward us 
the sinners of the Gentiles. At the first passover, we 
were uncircumcised and unclean by reason of death, 
we were afar off, and without God in the world. 
But us hath he quickened who were dead in tres- 
passes and sins ; and in Jesus Christ we who some- 
times were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of 
Christ. Therefore let us keep the feast; for even 
Christ our second, Christ our best passover, is sacri- 
ficed for us. 



M 2 



(138) 



X. THE ORDINANCE OF THE SCAl»E-GOAT. 

00000 

OF all the ceremonies injoined in the book of Le- 
viticus, (that gospel of Moses,) none were more sig- 
nificant, as we may well presume, and expressive 
of evangelical mysteries, than those prescribed on 
the solemn anniversary of general atonement. The 
rites of this solemn day, though in themselves but 
carnal ordinances, were, in their use, shadows of 
good things to come, and, without all doubt, ex- 
pounded in this view unto the people by the godly 
priests, whose lips kept knowledge. To what pur- 
pose else had been the multitude of their sacrifices 
unto him, who delights not in the blood of bullocks, or 
of he-goats ? On this day the Jewish high-priest was 
not first to array himself with his most costly attire, 
but with his linen garments. An emblem of the 
Christian High Priest's incarnation, who, when he 
came to expiate our sin, did not array himself with 
light as with a garment, but with the robe of our 
human nature, which, though clean and white, was 
without splendour or magnificence. — On this day he 
ofTered expiatory sacrifices both for himself and all 
the people. Jesus, in all things thou must have the 
pre-eminence ! For such an High-Priest became ?/.?, 
^ho needs not ^ as these high- Jiriests, offer Jivst for 
his own siUy and then for the peofile : for the law 
makes men priests that had infirmities ; but the word 
of the oath that was since the law^ maketh the Son^ 
who is consecrated for ever more. On this day he 
made his solemn entrance into the holy places made 
with hands, with the blood of bulls and goats. The 
meaning of which the great apostle declares, is the 
entrance of Jesus Christ, the High-Priest of good 
things to come, by a greater and more perfect ta- 
bernacle, into the holy place not made with hands, 
that is, into heaven itself, having obtained eternal 
redemption for us. 

But what we shall chiefly confine oar attention to, 
for the present, is another ceremony peculiar to this 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 139 

day of atonement. Besides the bullock and the ram 
which Aaron was to offer, the first for himself, and 
the second for the people ; he was also to take for all 
the congregation of Israel, two kids of the goats 
for a sin-offering. They were to be brouglit, as usual, 
to the door of the tabernacle of the congregaiion. 
But both were not killed as was usually done : for 
by an uncommon rite, the two victims were pitched 
upon by lot, the one to be offered up in the accus- 
tomed manner unto the Lord, and its skin, its flesh 
and dung, to be burned with fire without the camp; 
— the other to be presented alive before the Lord, 
where Aaron, laying both his hands upon its head, 
confessed over him ail the iniquities of the children 
of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their 
sins : and lastly, it was to be conducted into the wil- 
derness by the hand of a proper person, (who, they 
say might be either a Gentile or an Israelite,) and 
probably it was never more inquired after, where- 
fore it might be called azazel or the sea fie- goat. -^ 
We shall, for the present, leave to others the dis- 
cussion of some curious inquiries about the name 
and fate of this devoted creature, and proceed to no- 
tice how in both these victims Christ was set forth 
as the propitiation for our sins. 

It is true indeed, that the goat is none of these 
creatures that are supposed to have the most amia^ 
ble properties. And it may seem odd, that the lamb 
of God should be prefigured by these beasts, which, 
for their uncleanly and unruly temper, are emblems 
of the wicked, who in the last day shall be separated 
from the godly by the Judge of all the earth. But 
perhaps even this circumstance in the type might 
signify, that Christ was to appear in the likeness of 
sinful fie^h. The goat, though commonly held ait 
unclean creature, was notwithstanding, of the num- 
ber of clean beasts in the law of Moses ; and Jesus 
Christ, though reputed a sinner among men, was 
pure and righteous in the eye of God. And if it be 
true what is commonly reported, of the medicinal 
qualities of this creature's flesh, and of its blood sof- 
tening the rigid adamant ; what hinders us to think 
of Christ healing our diseases, taking away our hard 
and stony hearts, and giving us hearts of flesh. 



140 TYPICAL THINGSi Book II. 

But wherefore two goats? Or if two, why not both 
used in the same manner? Why was one of them 
put to death, and the other saved ahve ? Doubtless 
they are botli to be viewed as types of the grea,t pro- 
pitiation. The first goat may signify that complete 
satisfaction which Christ made to vindictive justice 
by the offering up himself; and the second goat may 
signify the happy consequence of this propitiatory 
sacrifice, in finishing transgression, making an end of 
sin, and carrying it, as it were, into the land of for- 
getfulness, that, to use the elegant words of Jeremiah, 
" When the iniquity of the house of Israel shall be 
sought for, there should be none, and the sins of Ju- 
dah and they should not be found." Nor ought it to 
seem strange, that such a momentous truth should 
be inculcated so many various ways on the same oc- 
casion ; for it is a singular effect of the goodness of 
God, to exhibit such interesting truths in different 
views, that we may have sfrong consolation. Besides 
that, ail similitudes and types fall infinitely short of 
the gi'eat mysteries they point at, therefore they are 
multiplied, that they may mutually supply the defi- 
ciencies of one another: for here the saying is made 
good, *' Two are better than one : for if they fall, the 
one will lift np his fellow." 

That the first goat was an emblem of Christ sacri- 
ficed for us, as much as any o'.her sacrifices, is not 
diificult to persuade. For like other sacrifices it was 
killed, because Christ was to die. Its blood was car- 
ried v;ithin the vail ; for Christ was to appear in the 
presence of God for us with his own blood. Its body 
was burned without the camp ; and Christ suffered 
■without the gate. But let us more particularly at- 
tend the mystery of the scape-goat, and its likeness 
lo Jesus Christ. 

It was, like the other, to be taken from the congre- 
gation of Israel, and doubtless purchased with the 
public money. So Christ was taken from among his 
brethren, and bought, in some sense, for thirty pieces 
of silver out of the public treasury, that he might 
be numbered with transgressors, and bear the sins 
of many. 

It was like the other, presented at the dcor of the 
tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord and 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. I4I 

all the people. So Christ presented himself to do his 
heavenly Father's will before both God and the peo- 
ple, when at the passover solemnity he went up to 
Jerusalem, not ignorant of what was to be done unto 
him by Jews and Gentiles. 

It was, as the other, chosen by lot, which, though 
cast in the lap, is not fortuitous or accidental, for the 
disposing is of the Lord. So Jesus Christ was desti- 
nated in the eternal counsels to bear the iniquities of 
his people. He was delivered into his enemies' hands 
by the determinate counsel of God, and by this same 
counsel, was determined before to be done whatever 
happened unto him. Hence it was that Pilate was 
deaf to the remonstrances of his own conscience, in 
condemning him that was most just ; and hence the 
people of the Jews preferred a murderer to the Lord 
of life, when they desired that Barabbas should be 
released, and Christ should be crucified. 

The sacred animal, being thus presented and 
chosen of God, the high-priest was to lay both his 
hands on its head, devoting it by this action to the 
service of God, and translating the sins of Israel upon 
it in a typical manner. Perhaps it might signify, that 
the hand of vindictive justice was to lie heavy on 
the surety of sinners ; and it is expressly affirmed by 
the prophet, ** The Lord hath laid on him the ini- 
quity of us all." 

That this was the meaning of the rite, appears 
more evidently from the following one. For in this 
posture did the high-priest confess all the sins of his 
people, from whom the goat was taken. Why should 
'their sins be confessed in this manner, if it was not to 
signify, that they were in some sort laid upon the 
head of the innocent victim ? It was thus the great 
Doer of God's will was made sin for us, who knew 
no sin. The goat could not be guiltjr for these sins, 
for it was a brute beast. Nor could its antitype be 
himself a transgressor of the law, for he was a divine 
Person. Yet both the one and the other did bear the 
sins of many, to which it was, in the nature of things, 
impossible they could be accessary in the smallest 
degree. It was not thy sin, O spotless victim ! but the 
sins of thy elect people ! that consigned thee over to 
the bloody and shameful cross. These were the sins 



142 TYPICAL THINGS.. Rook IL 

that took hold upon thee, and justified th)^ death. 
*' Surely, surely, he bore our griefs, he carried our 
sorrows, and the chastisement of our peace was upon 
him." How else could his heavenly Father been 
pleased to bruise him, for whom it is no more good 
to punish the just, than to clear the guilty. 

The devoted creature, thus laden with sin, is by 
the hand of a proper person conducted into the wil- 
derness. Why should not this wilderness he viewed 
as an emblem of these afflictions to which the Surety 
■was exposed by the sins he was charged with ? Or 
shall we say, it might be a faint intimation, that the 
blessings of atonement should be extended to the 
•world of (ientile sinners, which, in the style of the 
prophet, is called the wilderness of the fieofile ? Or 
rather the meaning may be, that as the mystic goat 
was never more looked after, or heard of, (for pro- 
bably it would soon perish, if not by hunger, at least 
by wild beasts ;) so Jesus Christ, by his atoning blood, 
would take away the sin of the world, and remove 
from them all the iniquities of the elect people, as far 
as the east is distant from the west. O condemning 
law, you have nothing to lay to their charge, for 
Christ is dead. Therefore it is God that justifieth, 
and their sins and iniquities will he remember no 
more. 

What thanks shall be rendered to that gracious 
Redeemer, who was manifested to restore that glory 
to God which he took not away, and to take away 
that sin of man which he did not introduce ? Be it so, 
there are, alas ! too many to whom this all important 
truth is of small account, (for some deride, and more 
despise it;) yet to the weary soul, to the conscience 
burdened with guilt, it is grateful and delicious as 
the full flowing stream to the hunted hart. The 
happy soul to whom the doctrine of atonement is 
manifested he hears upon the matter the voice of the 
great Jehovah speaking to him in such ravishing 
accents; *' I have made thine iniquity to pass from 
thee ;" or, in the words of Nathan to the penitent 
king David, *' The Lord hath taken away thy sin; 
thou shalt not die." Who would not be constrained 
by this love to put away the evil of their doings from 
before his eyes, who hath put away the guilt of them 
from before his face ? 



THE ORDINAN'CE OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. I43 

Draw near all ye whose consciences are burdened 
with the intolerable pressure of a thousand, aggra- 
vated iniquities, who are ready to cry. Mine iniqui- 
ties are gone over my head^ they are a burden too 
heavy to bear. While some, with Cain, go from the 
presence of the Lord, and drown their dismal 
thoughts in the delights of sense, or else in the whirl 
of business — ^whilst others have no ground of comfort 
but the general and unatoned mercy of God — whilst 
a third sort derive comfort to their troubled hearts 
from their own imperfect righteousness, their tears 
of repentance, their sorrow for what is past, and 
their resolutions to do better for the future ; confess 
your iniquities over the head of the New Testament 
scape-goat ; for he nvho thus confesseth and for- 
saketh, shall find mercy. Thus runs the gracious 
promise of the holy One of Israel. " By his know- 
ledge shall my righteous servant justify many: for 
he shall bear their iniquities." But he that despises 
this way of peace, shall bear his own burden, who- 
soever he be, 



(144) 



Xi. THE ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. 

HAVING seen the mystery of the lamb that was 
slain, and the goat that was sent away, we come next 
to the red heifer, whose ashes sprinkling the unclean, 
4id sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, when defiled 
by touching corpses, graves, and dead men's bones: 
and we shall see how it signified the sprinkling of 
Christ's blood upon our souls, to purge our conscience 
from dead works, to serve the living God. 

It was an ordinance which God was pleased to 
enjoin in a very punctual manner: for "the Lord 
spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying. This is 
the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath com- 
manded," Indeed, what but the authority of God 
could have reconciled the minds of the ancienti 
church to such a burdensome yoke of ceremonies ? 
Therefore the Hebrew law-giver takes such par- 
ticular care to inculcate every where, that he deli- 
vered no laws unto them which he received not from 
the Lord. No wonder that the whole system of cere- 
monial worship was purely founded on the sovereign 
pleasure of God, when it was intended to shadow 
forth that adorable plan of redemption which arises 
from the same source, and is styled in the New Tes- 
tament the mystery of his ivilL It is this that imparts 
a venerable air to all those rites, which, had they 
been of human institution alone, would have merited 
contempt and ridicule. Let us, for one proof of this, 
observe the qualities, the sufferings, and the use of 
this heifer. These \^e shall see arc capable of being 
fairly applied to Jesus Christ, who gave himself for 
us, that he might purify us unto himself, a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works. 

What then were the qualities required in this vic- 
tim ? It was a heifer. Perhaps to intimate, that in 
Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female; or to 
signify, that he would assume our nature, not in its 
strongest state of innocence, but in its enfeebled state 
of sin and misery ; For he was made in the likeness of 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE RED HEIFER. I45 

sinful flesh, and compassed with infirmity. — It was a 
red heifer. The reason of this (say the Jews) was 
hid from Solomon himself, but is not perhaps alto- 
gether concealed from the meanest believer, who 
knows that his Saviour came from Eden, with died 
garments from Bozrah ; or that he is clothed with a 
vesture dipt in blood. Red is a colour of beauty ; and 
he is fairer than the children of men. Red is a colour 
of strength ; and he is the one that is mighty. Red 
is the colour of guilt ; and he took the scarlet and 
crimson coloured robes of our imputed sin, that he 
might clothe us with the robes of his innputed righ- 
teousness, whiter than wool, purer than snow. It was 
a heifer without spot or blemish. Indeed this was 
required in every victim ; and in Christ the holy One 
of God it was fulfilled. An unatoned God accepts 
nothing less than the most absolute perfection ; an 
unatoned God was he with whom our Saviour had to 
do. It is therefore easy to see, that any the smallest 
spot would have entirely disqualified him from ap- 
proaching unto God in an acceptable manner. It was 
a heifer on which never came yoke. As man he 
never came under the yoke of sin : and as God he 
was not under the yoke of duty, that is, he was not 
obliged to obey the law. If he paid tribute to the 
temple, he was not obliged to do so. (For even the 
kings of the earth hold their own children free from 
paying taxes.) But lest he should offend them who 
were ignorant of his true character, he pays the 
tribute, not with money out of his private pocket, 
but, to shew that he was Lord of all» with money he 
commanded a fish to bring from the bottom of the 
sea. If he appeared in the form of a servant, it waa 
wholly owing to his voluntary condescension. If he 
expires in agonies on a cross, it is not because his life 
is violently taken away by the hands of sinful men, 
but becar.se he laid it down of himself. Therefore 
does his Father love him ; therefore is his obedience 
aud death strictly meritorious ; and because he has 
done more than was his duty to do, he is not an un- 
profitable servant. 

When a heifer was found in which these qualities 
did meet, what was to be done unto her ? First of all, 
she is brought to Eleazar the priest. Here indeed the 

N 



146 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

type is defective; for our high-priest and sacrifice 
are the same. Next she is brought without the camp ; 
for Christ suffered without the gate. She was killed 
before his eyes. So Christ was crucified and slain in 
the most public manner. Her flesh, and skin, and 
blood, were burned in fire, together with her dung. 
Sfr Christ suffered in the whole man ; and when he 
endured the wrath of God, which is often compared 
to fire, they cast upon him the dung of the most viru- 
lent reproaches. But what shall we say to the cedar 
wood, the scarlet cloth, and the hyssop, that were 
thrown also into the burning ? Perhaps it never was 
intended by the Holy Ghost, that every minute cir- 
cumstance in that ritual worship should have a sepa- 
rate meaning affixed to it. Many usages w^ere doubt- 
less to be practised in the ancient dispensation, with 
no other view than to testify their absolute submission 
to the divine will. What if we should say, that the 
cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, were the 
materials of which they made the sprinkler, but first 
these very things must be thrown into the fire ; so 
the means and ordinances by which the clean water 
of Christ's blood is sprinkled on our souls, are them- 
selves first sanctified by his sufferings? Or the scarlet 
cloth might denote the guilt of sin, which was the 
cause of his death. The hyssop might signify the ne- 
cessity of its being applied unto the conscience, or of 
the sprinkling the blood of Jesus upon our hearts. 
And the cedar wood, which is durable and fragrant, 
might adumbrate the sweet savour of his suf!erings, 
and the perpetual efficacy of his atoning blood. 

But when the heifer was thus reduced to ashes, are 
they suffered to lie and rot with the common earth, 
or to be scattered by the winds ? No, they were care- 
fully to be gathered up by a clean person ; and de- 
posited in a clean place without the camp, where 
they are to be kept, in order to make with them a 
purifying water to sprinkle the unclean. Who would 
have thought the ashes of a burned heifer worthy 
of such regard, had he judged only by outward ap- 
pearance ? But though seemingly vile, they were 
really precious by the divine ordinance. Even so the 
death and crucifixion qf the dying Redeemer, though 
m appearance an event worthy of small regard, was 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE RED HJ^IFER, I47 

in reality the most memorable transaction that ever 
the sun beheld. Precious in the sight of the Lord is 
the death of his saints. How much more the death 
of his beloved Son ? His blood, though trodden under 
foot by many, and by many esteemed as water spilt 
on the ground, is notwithstanding the price of our 
redemption, and infinitely more valuable than gold 
and silver, and all corruptible things. — The clean 
place where the ashes were deposited, was it an em- 
blem of the church, where alone the sacred treasure 
of his blood is dispensed? It was without the camp. 
Perhaps to intimate, that those who were without the 
commonwealth of Israel should partake the cleans- 
ing efficacy of Christ's blood ; and that God would 
put no difference betwixt them and his ancient peo- 
ple, purifying their hearts by faith. Or shall we say, 
that as the precious relics were to be laid in a clean 

glace ; so the mystery of faith in his blood can only 
e held in a pure conscience ?— The ashes thus pre- 
served were fit for use upon every occasion, as long 
as they lasted, whereas the blood of common sacri» 
fices soon congealed, and was unfit to be sprinkled 
when it grew cold. Was not this a significant em- 
blem of the everlasting fitness of Christ's blood to 
purge the guilty conscience ? For it is no less capa- 
ble of being sprinkled now, than the moment it was 
shed, being always warm, always new and living 
blood. Let us consider, in a few words, the occasion 
for keeping these purifying ashes, the manner of pre- 
paring them, the rite by which they were sprinkled, 
and the danger of neglecting it. 

The occasion for the ashes, was the uncleanness of 
the Israelites, or strangers that sojourned among 
them, by reason of the necessary and voluntary or 
involuntary and accidental touch of dead corpses, 
bones, and graves. The touch of these defiled them 
legally, and debarred them from access to the sanc- 
tuary of God. But our defilements now arise not 
from dead corpses, but from dead works, the sins 
we daily commit. ** Wretched men that we are, who 
shall deliver us from this body of death !" Yea, what 
else are the best duties we can perform, but dead 
works, if God should entei\ into judgment? Even 
these need to be buried out of our sight, and covered 



148 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

from the view ofimpartial justice with the covering 
of Immanuel's righteousness. And till we are purged 
from these we cannot serve the living God. 

The manner of preparing these holy ashes was to 
mix them with running water in a vessel. An em- 
blem of that divine Spirit which they that believe on 
Christ shall infallibly receive, by whose invisible, 
but powerful operation, the blood of Christ is made 
effectual to purify our hearts. As the ashes were 
mixed with the water in this typical ordinance, so 
the blood and Spirit of Christ are undivided in their 
working ; for they that are justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, are washed in the same name by the 
Spirit of our God ; and from them whom he sprinkles 
with clean water, he takes away the hard and stony 
heart. 

The rite of sprinkling was in this manner. On the 
third day, and on the seventh day, after the pollution 
was contracted, a clean person, dipping a bunch of 
hyssop in the purifying liquor, was to sprinkle the un- 
clean : and on the evening of the seventh day, but net 
before, he was perfectly cleansed. Let the clean per- 
son be an emblem of the ministers of the gospel, who 
have the precious treasure of Christ's purifying blood 
and Spirit as it were in earthen vessels. These ought 
(at least) to be clean persons, and an example in pu- 
rity, to the believers among whom they minister. Let 
the bunch of hyssop represent the ordinances of the 
gospel, or faith, both which are the applying means. 
The third day was the time of the first sprinkling. 
We may here take occasion to think, that on the 
third day Christ rose again from the dead : and here 
indeed began our purging from guilt, for he was 
raised lor our justification. On the seventh day, the 
last of a weekly revolution, the purification was com- 
plete on the evening. Nor will we be perfectly 
cleansed from the inheritance of moral stains till the 
evening of death, and the commencement of the 
eternal Sabbath. Thus shall he sprinkle, not a small 
number of Israelites, but many nations, not merely 
from the impurities of the flesh, but from the pollu- 
tions of the conscience. Though we are defiled not 
only with smaller transgressions, but with the most 
deadly and abominable iniquities or to use the OW 



THE ORDINANCJEl OF THE RED HEIFER. I49 

Testament phrases, though we hav^e not only touch- 
ed, but remained among the graves, and lodged in 
the monuments : yet if we come to Jesus, the Me- 
diator of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
sprinkhng, we shall be clean through the word that 
he has spoken unto us. 

The danger of neglecting this ordinance was no 
less than excision from the congregation of the Lord. 
So shall they perish as the vilest part of the creation, 
who say, they are not polluted, when the judgment 
of unerring wisdom about all the children of men, is. 
They are altogether become filthy : or who turning 
away disdainfully from the fountain opened for sin 
and for uncleanness, think to wash out their stains by 
the nitre and soap of their own endeavours; for God 
shall plunge them into the ditch, a7id their own clothes 
shall abhor them. 

One other circumstance deserves to be noticed, 
before we leave this subject. The very same water 
that sanctified the unclean, defiled the man who 
touched or sprinkled it, though he was clean before. 
Perhaps this might denote the imperfection of these 
shadows, which never could make them perfect by 
whom they were used ; or it might intimate, that the 
virtue of divine institutions depends not on the person 
that ministers about them. Or shall we say, that faith 
in Christ's blood, like this consecrated water, defiles 
them that are clean, by discovering more of their na- 
tural pollution ; and cleanses them that are defiled, 
by sprinkling their hearts from an evil conscience ? 
But it is certain the effects of this watei- were not 
more contrary than these of Christ himself, as 
preached in the gospel, who is to some the savour 
of life, and to others the savour of death. 



N 2 



( 150 ) 



XII. THE ORDINANCE OF THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. 

00000 

THE institution of the jubilee was none of the 
ieast remarkable regulations in the commonwealth 
of Israel, and deserves our special attention. Besides 
the rest which the land enjoyed every seventh, it 
was ordained to rest also every fiftieth year. The 
husbandman was forbid to subdue his field with the 
plough, or to scatter his seed in the furrows. What 
the earth spontaneously produced, whether corn or 
vines, might be indifferently used by all, and w^as the 
special property of the poor inhabitants of the land. 
The God who commanded this, was fully able to 
compensate the want of harvest and vintage, by 
crowning the year preceding with uncommon plenty. 
But besides the intermission of servile labour in this 
extraordinary year, it was the will of God, that, by- 
its welcome approach ; the poor Israelite should 
reap great advantages, and enjoy very valuable im- 
munities. The insolvent debtor was delivered from 
his creditor. The hired servant regained his former 
liberty, and inheritances reverted to the families to 
which they originally belonged. The joyful sound of 
trumpets announced the commencement of this year 
of liberty, and they were blown on the day of atone- 
ment, when they were fasiing for their sins, and af- 
flicting their souls. This was tlie fast which the Lord 
did choose, to undo heavy burdens, and let the op- 
pressed go free. In short, it was a time of the resti- 
tution ot all things in the commonwealth, and a re- 
medy against the caprice of fortune, or rather the 
inequalities which sovereign providence introduces 
among men as to their outward state. 

Several things might be suggested, to evince the 
propriety of this regulation, viewed in a civil, as well 
as a religious light. It was admirably well calculated 
to promote brotherly love, to prevent the ruin of fa- 
milies, whether by avarice or prodigality, to pre- 
serve the distinction of tribes, till the Messias should 
t:ome, and to impress upon their hearts a sense of 



V 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. 151 

their absolute dependence upon God as their great 
landlord, whose property the land was, and with 
whom they were strangers and sojourners. Therefore 
it was to be sold only for a time, and not for ever. 

But let us raise our thoughts still higher to the 
year of grace, and day of salvation, wherein far 
greater immunities are proclaimed to the human 
race, than were announced to the Israelites by the 
trumpet of the jubilee. Detesting the impious imita- 
tion of this sacred ordinance in the pretended jubilee 
of Rome, let us take occasion to meditate on that 
happy season, which, in allusion to this very thing, is 
styled by the prophet, the year of God's redeemed^ 
and the acceptable year of the Lord. Joyful was the 
sound of liberty to the poor Israelite who was 
drowned in debt, for which he was obliged to part 
with his beloved freedom, and to sell the inheritance 
of his fathers. But more joyful is the sound of liberty 
to the wretched sinner, who is deep in arrears to the 
divine justice, a miserable captive of sin and wrath, 
and utterly deprived of all inheritance in the hea- 
venly kingdom. *' O blessed are the people that 
know this joyful sound ! They shall walk, O Lord, in 
the brightness of thy countenance. In thy name shall 
they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness 
shall they be exalted." But a more particular atten- 
tion to what Moses informs us about this grand fes- 
tival, will discover unto us the resemblance betwixt 
the trumpet of the jubilee, and the trumpet of the 
gospel, whose sound, far from being confined to Ju- 
dea alone, is gone through all the earth, of which the 
prophet Esaias, rapt into future times, utters that 
glorious prophecy, which has received its accom- 
phshment in the days of the Messiah : '* And it shall 
come to pass, that the great trumpet shall be blown, 
aiid they shall come which were ready to perish in 
the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of 
Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount 
at Jerusalem." 

The time when this glad signal was given by the 
solemn sound of trum.pets, was the tenth day of the 
seventh month, or the day of atonement; a day 
wherein the future expiation of the Messiah was 
clearly exhibited, in the goat that was slain, and in 



152 TYPICAL THINGS. Boolj: IL 

the goat that was sent away, and in other ceremo- 
nies truly significant and expressive. A circumstance 
this greatly to be observed. Who sees not here, that 
our jubilee begins in the atonement of Jesus Christ, 
as theirs began on the day in which it was prefigured? 
The trumpet that was not sounded on this day, was 
some other than the jubilee-trumpet; and the ser- 
mon that is not built on the doctrine of atonement, is 
something different from the gospel. O Jesus, were 
it not for thy bloody death, thy glorious resurrection, 
and still more glorious ascension, our ears had never 
heard the gospel-trumpet's joyful sound, nor of the 
gifts which thou received for men, far surpassing the 
gifts and immunities of this gladsome year. 

The intermission of toil and labour, in this Sabba- 
tical year, wherein the land was not tilled, and the 
common property which every one had in the spon- 
taneous productions of the earth, may be considered 
as an emblem of that blessed rest which is proclaimed 
in the gospel of Jesus Christ from the works of the 
law and of the flesh, and from anxious carking cares 
about the good things of this present life. He that 
feeds the ravens without their labour, and clothes 
the lilies without their toil, will certainly withhold 
no necessary thing from the objects of his choice re- 
gard. The joyful sound forbids you to ask with pain- 
ful anxiety, *' What shall we eat.^ what shall we 
drink .^ and wherewith shall we be clothed .'*" Leave 
him who knows your wants to answer these perplex- 
ing questions. " Be careful for nothing,'* is a cheerful 
note sent from the gospel-trumpet. Hear it, ye hap- 
py people who know the joyful sound, and turn your 
timorous cares into believing confidence. 

The cancelling of debts at this happy season, may 
well be viewed as an emblem of the forgiveness of 
^n, or that dreadful debt of punishment which all the 
human race owe to eternal justice, the most inexora- 
ble of all creditors. This debt we are born under, 
and are every day contracting more. It is marked, 
every farthing, in the book of God's remembrance, 
and the time of final reckoning is hasting apace. Mi- 
serable they whom that awful da^ shall find without 
a Surety. How can we discharge it, who are notable 
so much as to number it.^ But these are the charm- 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE YEAH OF JUBILEE. J53 

i!ig accents of the gospel jubilee, " I, even I am he 
that blotteth out your iniquities for mine own ^ake, 
and will not remember your sins." Dismiss your 
fears, ye poor insolvent debtors; for there is for- 
giveness with your great Creditor, and for the sake 
of his dear Son, he will not enter into judgment 
with you. 

The release of servants, and delivering from bon- 
dage, is another jo>;fuI sound of the acceptable year 
ol" the Loid : a privilege so much more glorious than 
the liberty of the Israelites, as the slavery from 
which we are redeemed is more miserable than the 
service to which they bound themselves. The gospel 
is a joyful sound of liberty from the bondage of God's 
wrath, which we are taught to dread no more with, 
servile fear, but with a filial reverence ; — from the 
bondage of Satan's tyranny, that we may no more be 
led captive at the will and pleasure of that wicked 
spirit; — from the fear of death, which has subjected 
many to bondage all the days of their life. It is a 
sound of freedom from the law, not indeed as it is a 
rule of life, (for the obligation to all sorts of religious 
and civil duties is strongly corroborated by the gos- 
pel,) but as it is a covenant of works. A severe and 
rigorous master indeed ! which accepts no work, if it 
js not absolutely perfect! which never re-admits into 
favour those who in the smallest instance have in- 
curred its displeasure, though they should be ever so 
solicitous to do all in their power to please it. Eter- 
nal death is the smallest punishment it will be satis- 
lied to inflict, and obedience absolutely perfect the 
only condition of acceptance. They who are under 
the dominion of this rigid lord, (and such are all the 
race of Adam before the gospel cpmes,) can never 
hope to attain everlasting life, or escape everlasting 
death ; for one sin, though ever so small, will do them 
more harm than all their duties, how many soever, 
can do them good. But we must not forget to mention 
how the gospel is a joyful sound of liberty and free- 
dom from the domineering power of sin, and the lusts 
of our hearts, which, though divers, and often con- 
trary, demand all homage, and perfect gratification. 
Betwixt the bondage of the law, and the bondage of 
-in, there is a most indissoluble relation, though one 



154 ^ TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

would not think so at first view. But the great apos- 
tle expressly affirms, that the strength of sin is the 
law, and makes our not being under the law, but un- 
der grace, a reason why sin shall not have the domi- 
nion over us. Be it so, that serving divers lusts and 
pleasures is not esteemed by many as an intolerable 
thraldom, but, on the contrary, they think it a state 
of liberty to be the servants of corruption. They are 
not the only madmen who glory in their chains, mis- 
taking them for regal ornaments. A most unques- 
tionable judge of human nature has taught us, that he 
who commits sin, is the servant of sin. A saint of the 
first magnitude affirms, that to seek God's precepts, 
is to walk at liberty. And who has not heard the dis- 
mal groans of the blessed apostle, which the body of 
sin and death extorted from the bottom of his heart? 
O sin, what an imperious lord art thou! and thy ser- 
vice of all others the most ignominious, the most la- 
borious, and the most unprofitable ; for the wages of 
sin is death. But the gospel- trumpet says to the pri- 
soners, *' Go forth,'* and to them in darkness, * Shew 
yourselves ;" and when they know the truth, the truth 
shall make them free. 

The reversion of inheritances is the last thing we 
shall notice. We lost our inheritance by the first 
mortal transgression, and were every day resigning 
more and more our claim to the divine favour, for the 
transitory pleasures of sin. We have sold for nought 
the invaluable treasures of eternity, and are by no 
means able to redeem what we have so foolishly 
foregone. But these are the glad lidu^gs of the ever- 
lasting gospel. In Jesus Christ, O ye children of men, 
you may obtain an inheritance infinitely more valua- 
ble than what returned to any Israelite at the year 
of liberty, an inheritance of exceeding glorious 
riches, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away, reserved in heaven for you. The blood of 
Christ is the price that bought it ; the Spirit is the 
earnest that secures it. And when the Redeemer 
comes again, they shall perfectly enjoy the pur- 
chased possession: for "the Lord knows the days 
of the righteous, and their inheritance endureth 
lor ever.'* 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE YEAR OF JWBILEE. 15j( 

Happy they who hear by faith the trumpet of tlie 
gospel jubilee, in this accepted time, who look into 
the perfect law of liberty, and continue therein. In 
the decisive hour of judgment, the trump of God 
itself shall not affright ; and even in this present 
state, they shall be brought into the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God ; they shall lead them captive 
whose captives they were, and rule over their op- 
pressors. 



(156) 



Xm. THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 

00000 

THE law of the leper, which is delivei'ed by the 
Hebrew law-giver with considerable prolixity, is in- 
deed a portion of sacred writ we are apt to skim over 
with a heedless glance, supposing that very little in- 
struction can be derived from such antiquated usages 
as were to be observed about tlie discovery, the sepa- 
ration, and the cleansing of the infected Israelite. 
One is apt to wonder at the distemper itself, which 
infected not only the bodies of men, but their gar- 
ments and houses ; and to be no less surprised, that 
the heavenly Majesty should condescend to give 
such minute directions about the symptoms of the 
leprosy, and the manner of its cleansing. But when 
we consider that every thing almost about the typi- 
cal nation was figurative, their diseases not excepted, 
perhaps we may cease to wonder, and wiUingly ac- 
knowledge, that here, as in other ancient rites, the 
body, is of Christ. 

it was a cutaneous distemper well known to the 
Jews, and, as they say, to other nations in those parts 
of the world. Though in itself it was only a natural 
evil, it was, however, inflicted oftentimes by the im- 
mediate hand of the Lord, as the punishment of sin, 
as in the case of Miriam, Gehazi, and king Uzziah. 
That it was always an indication of any flagrant guilt, 
we will not presume to say. But the unhappy patient 
who was seized with that hateful malady, was by 
the divine law excluded from the cheerful society of 
men, and from access to the tabernacle of God, till 
it should please God to recover him, or at least till 
the symptoms of recovery were perceived by the 
priest by whom the sentence was pronounced. But 
let us take a more exact view both of the disease, and 
the manner of its purgation. 

Was the almighty displeased with the leprosy ? 
was his indignation against the poor leper ? Nay, he 
despises no man for the affliction of his body, how- 
ever loathsome. A Lazarus covered with sores, and 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 157 

a Job with boils, are the objects of his special love ; 
while the most wealthy sinner, that wears the finest 
purple, is a vile person in his eyes. Sin is that loath- 
some disease, and the sinner that abominable leper, 
here described. " Behold, I am vile, I am a man of 
unclean lips, I abhor myself," is the language of the 
convinced soul. An infant wallowing in the blood of 
its nativity, and a sow wallowing in the mire, a dog 
returning to his vomit, and a sepulchre exhaling the 
stench of a putrefying carcase, are not greater 
nuisances to the sense, than the soul that lies in sin, 
to the pure eyes of God. Sin is that abhorred leprosy 
which spreads its dire contagion far and wide, infect- 
ing all the duties which the sinner can perform, and 
all the comforts that he tastes ; for to him that is de- 
filed and unbelieving^ is nothing pure. Beware how 
you approach the society of the wicked, a thousand 
times more infectious than the company of the filthi- 
est leper. O my soul, be not united to their assembly 
that are the workers of iniquity, if thou wouldst keep 
the commandment of thy God. He that was infected 
with the typical leprosy, was not only in danger of 
defiling those with whom he conversed, but the very 
garments he wore, and the house in which he dwelt. 
But sin has subjected all creatures to the bondage of 
corruption. Therefore it is revealed, ** the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat, and all these things 
shall be dissolved;" as the infected garment was 
burned with fire, and the infected house demolished 
from its very foundation. The leper under the law w^as 
excluded from the society of men ; and when the dis- 
temper came to a great height, or infected the head, 
he was to use the signals of deepest mourning, his 
clothes were to be rent, his head bare, and a cover- 
ing upon his upper lip, and as he went, he was to cry. 
Unclean, unclean. But the leprosy of sin excludes 
tlie miserable soul from all intercourse with God, 
communion with angels, fellowship with Jesus, so- 
ciety with the spirits of just men, and access to the 
heavenly Jerusalem, where nothing that is defiled 
can enter. O dismal solitude ! O terrible separation ! 
With what tears shall it be deplored ! What tokens 
of mourning are deep enough to express the melan- 
choly state ! And, alas ! we speak not of a maladv 



158 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

that is rarely found. It is hereditary to all the sons 
of x\dain without exception ; for ** they are alto- 
gether "become filthy: there is none that doeth 
good, no not one. How can he be clean that is 
born of a woman?" 

No wonder the priest was enjoined to proceed 
with extraordinary caution, in inspecting the symp- 
toms of this hateful distemper, when so much de- 
pended upon the sentence he should pronounce. A 
person w^as not to be pronounced unclean on a sud- 
den, nor upon every slight symptom of leprosy that 
might have appeared in his flesh; for the suspected 
Israelite was to be shut up seven days, and on the 
seventh day to be judged according as the symptoms 
were favourable or malignant. This surely was de- 
signed to inculcate the extraordinary caution where* 
with the office bearers in the church, as well as 
others, ought to try the spirits, and separate the pre- 
cious from the vile ; and that no man's state should 
be deemed bad, unless there are most evident tokens 
of sin having the dominion him. Every man who had 
in his skin a spot, freckle, or blister, was not to be 
judged a leper. Nor must we say of every sin of in- 
firmity. It is not the sfiot of his children; for in 
many things we offend all. Again, a man whose hair 
fell off his head or forehead, through the decay of 
nature, or otherwise, though he was bald, yet he was 
not a leper. Nor are they all in a state of sin, the 
vigour of whose spiritual life is much abated, and 
who, alas ! have left their first love. Yea, though an 
Israelite was actually seized with a leprosy, if there 
were tokens that it was not gaining upon nature, but 
that nature was expelling it, as suppose the plague 
w^as not in sight deeper than the skin, or if it spread 
not in the skin, or if the plague was somewhat dark, 
and there were black hairs in the rising, or if it co- 
vered all the skin from head to foot wheresoever the 
priest looked ; in any of these cases he was not pro- 
nounced unclean ; for these were favourable symp- 
toms that the distemper had not infected the vitals ; 
that the whole mass of blood was not corrupted ; and 
that nature was still strong, and working out the 
contagion. No more must we conclude, that they are 
all in a bad state, who may take up the pitiful com- 



THE LAW OF T?IE LEPER. 159 

plaint of David, " My loins are filled with a loath- 
some disease, and there is no soundtiess in my flesh." 
The leper whose plague is not in sight deeper than 
the skin, is he whose lite may indeed be stained with 
some external blemishes, but he sins not with all his 
heart, which is still sound in God's statutes. The 
leper whose plague spreads not in the skin, but was 
at a stay, is he who emerges from his fall, like David 
or Peter, by a speedy repentance. Their sin was but 
a scab: they washed their clothes in the blood of 
Christ, and were clean. 

The leper whose plague was somewhat dark, and 
the hairs not turned white, (a sure sign of the 
strength of nature,) is he who has a principle of life 
and strength within him, that never can be subdued 
by the strongest efforts of sin, but shall prevail at the 
last. The leper who was all turned white in every 
part from head to foot, (a sign that the distemper 
was expelled from the vitals to the external parts, 
and that the cure was as good as wrought,) is he 
who has obtained an evangelical conviction of his na- 
tural pollution in heart and life, that he is altogether 
become filthy ; and that in hiiUy that is, in his fiesh, 
there dwells no good thing. 

But, on the other hand, the bad symptoms were 
such as these. If the hair in the plague was turned 
white ; if the plague was in sight deeper than the 
skin of his flesh ; if there was quick raw flesh in the 
rising ; and if it spread itself further and further in 
the skin. And the worst of all kinds was the leprosy 
in the head: The priest shall fironounce him utterly 
unclean^ his plague is in his head. He that had white 
and yellow hair in the sore of his leprosy, is the sin- 
ner who has no strength to oppose any temptation, 
and can make no resistance at all to the lusts of his 
own heart: for white hairs are signs of the debility of 
nature, and that death is fast approaching. Gray 
hairs, saith the prophet Hosea, " are here and there 
upon him, yet he knoweth it not." And saith the 
Lord God in Ezekiel, " how weak is thine heart, 
seeing thou doest all these things?" 

He whose leprosy was in sight deeper than the 
skin, is an emblem of the sinner who works wicked- 
ness with full consent, and from the very bottom of 



160 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

his soul, whose transgression proclaims, that his 
heart is not right in the sight of God, and to whom 
the words of the prophet may be addressed, " This 
thy wickedness is bitter; itreacheth unto thine heart." 
He that had quick i aw liesh in the rising of his plague, 
may perhaps denote the sinner who cannot endure 
to be touched or reprimanded for his fault, though in 
the most gentle manner. This is a dangerous symp- 
tom indeed ! David, this was not thy spot : *' Let the 
righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, let him re- 
prove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not 
break my head." He whose plague did spread in 
the skin, is the sinner who waxes worse and worse, 
and increases unto more ungodliness. And, lastly, 
the man whose plague was in the head, is the sin- 
ner, the faults of whose life proceed from the errors 
of his mind, whose understanding is debauched by 
his will, and he is arrived at such a pitch of wicked- 
ness, as to vindicate himself in the gratification of 
his lusts, and even to glory in his shame. He is ut- 
terly unclean, and hardly, very hardly, shall his cure 
be ever effected. But the rites of cleansing demand 
our next attention. 

When it pleased God, who sent this doleful plague, 
to remove it again, the leper was fetched to the 
priest, or rather the priest unto the leper; and 
when upon a narrow scrutiny it appeared the cure 
was really wrought, he was pronounced clean, but 
not without practising vaiious purging ceremonies 
on the first, the seventh, and the eighth day. Jesus 
Christ is that Priest to whom the leprous soul is 
brought, or rather who hath condescended to come 
to us, who could not go to hmi, because we were 
polluted in our blood without the camp, aliens from 
the commonwealth of Israel. He is come not merelN 
to cleanse them who are already healed, like the 
legal priest, but to heal them who without his help- 
ing hand were absolutely incurable, 'i'he Israelite 
who was brought for cleansing to the priest, was 
himself to provide the necessary oblations, not with- 
out some cost and toil. But the High-Prie^t of good 
things to come demands no such conditions from 
those who come for healing to their souls : himself 
has laid out the necessary charges, and has by the 



THE LAW OF THE LEPER. 161 

one ofFering of himself for us for ever perfected all 
them who are sanctified. But let us more narrowly 
attend to the ceremonies of cleansing, in the order 
wherein they were performed. 

On the first day of the leper's appearance before 
the priest, the priest was to take for him two birds 
alive and clean» and cedar wood, and scarlet, and 
hyssop, to make with them a sprinkling instrument. 
An earthen vessel was filled with running water, 
over which one of the birds was to be killed, and the 
other bird together with the sprinkling instrument, 
being dipt in the bloody water, the leper was to be 
sprinkled with it seven times, and the bird let loose 
into the open field. And the leper, though pro- 
nounced clean by the priest, was notwithtstanding to 
cleanse himself still more, by washing his clothes, 
shaving his hair, and bathing his whole body. And 
after that, he was permitted to come into the camp; 
but he was to tarry abroad, out of his tent seven 
days. Some have thought, and perhaps not without 
some reason, that the materials which were to be 
procured on this occasion, might be expressive of 
that wholesome state on which the leper was now to 
enter. Before he was in a manner dead, but now re- 
stored to life, which might be signified by the living 
birds. Before he was putrefying, and in a state of 
corruption, but now vigorous and robust, signified by 
the cedar. Before he was pale and wan, but now of 
a lively brisk complexion, signified by the scarlet. 
Before he was nauseous to the smell, but now cured 
of his ill scent, signified by the hyssop. But what 
hinders us to think of still greater mysteries, and to 
lift our thoughts to the purging of our sins by our 
great H igh- Priest .^ The two birds alive and clean 
may denote the two natures of Jesus Christ. The 
human nature was put to death, but the divine na- 
ture was incapable of suffering. By the human na- 
ture he died for our offences, and by the divine na- 
ture he rose again for our justification. The sprink- 
ling instrument of cedar, scarlet, and hyssop, may 
signify the ordinances of the gospel, by which the 
blessings of Christ's death are communicated, I'he 
running water is the Spirit of Christ, who is always 
imparted to the heart when the blood is sprinkled 

2 



X62 TYPICAL THIKGS. Book 11 

on the conscience. The earthen vessel is an emblem 
of the minivSters of Christ, who, though frail and 
brittle creatures, and despicable in the eye of the 
world, and some but of small capacity and size, are 
intrusted with this invaluable treasure of gospel 
grace, to be dispensed unto others. And whereas 
the priest was to kill one of the birds, this intimates, 
that without shedding of blood is no remission. He was 
to dip the living bird in the blood of the dead one; 
this imports, that the blood of Christ's humanity is, 
by the hypostatical union, the blood of his divinity, 
or the blood of God. which is the very thing that 
renders it the blood of atonement. The sprinkling 
instrument of cedar, scarlet, and hyssop, was to be 
•dipt in the same blood: for all the ordinances, and 
all the means of salvation, are sanctified by the blood 
■of Christ alone. In this blood, it we may be allowed 
the expression, must ministers dip their sermons if 
they would be profitable to men ; and in this blood 
must Christians dip their good works, if they ex- 
pect them to be acceptable to God. The sprinkling 
the leper seven times, signifies that perfect clean- 
ness which is by the blood of sprinkling introduced 
into the conscience, and which the royal penitent 
so pathetically breathes after, " Wash me, 'and I 
shall be clean, sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall 
be whiter than the snow." — The dismission of the 
other bird into the open field, may perhaps denote 
the resurrection of the Son of God, or that his di- 
vine nature was untouched by death. Or as the liv- 
ing bird received its liberty when dipt in the blood 
of ihe dead one ; so we are made to know the power 
of his resurrection, by the fellowship of his suffer- 
ings, and may truly say, ** Our soul is escaped as a 
bird out of the snare of the fowler." The leper thus 
sprinkled according to the ordinance, though pro- 
nounced clean by the priest, was required to shave 
his hair, and wash himself and his clothes in water, 
that he might be clean ; which was not only a pre- 
caution to prevent relapse, through any relics of the 
distemper lurking in his liair or garments, but may 
also point forth to us this momentous truth, that our 
being sprinkled by our High-Priest with the clean 
water of his blood, does not at all supersede the 



THE LAW OF THE LEFER. 163 

cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit. There is no person who partakes this 
glorious privilege, who endeavours not as his duty 
to purify himself to lay aside all superfluity of naugh- 
tiness, to put off the old man, and to hate even the 
garment spotted with the flesh, by having no fellow- 
ship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Nor are 
his purifying endeavours to be intermitted, but per- 
sisted in all the days of his life, as the leper was to 
repeat on the seventh day, the ceremonies of shav*. 
ing and washing: for sanctification is a gradual and 
progressive work, that shall not be completed till 
the week of this mortal life is fulfilled. Such were 
the ceremonies of the first and of the seventh day. 

On the eighth day, three lambs were to be fetched 
for a trespass offering, a sin-offering, and a burnt- 
offering, a quantity ot fine flour for a meat-offering, 
and one log of oil. If he was not able to afford such 
costly offerings, the Lord, accepted such as he was 
able to get, which are also condescended upon in 
the law. These sacrifices being presented, together 
with the leper, before the Lord, were to be offered 
in the usual manner. But the blood of the trespass- 
offering, was by a peculiar ceremony, to be applied 
to the extreme parts of the leper's body, the tip of 
his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the 
great toe of his right foot. Above the blood the oil 
was to be applied in the same manner, and the over- 
plus poured upon his head who was to be cleansed. 
These sacrifices, without all doubt, had the same 
general meaning as other sacrifices ; and the pecu- 
har ceremonies were doubtless very significant: as 
if the priest had said to the leper, I fiut this blood 
and this oil 07i your ear, now you are free to hear 
the word of God in any synagogue •• / fiut it en 
your thumbs now you may handle any things and 
not defile it : I fiut them on your toe^ now you may 
go where you filease^ and men will not avoid your 
^society. But what forbids us to think of still higher 
mysteries ? These jDarticular parts of the body may 
signify the perceptive and executive faculties, in 
both which we offend, and for both which we need 
the great propitiation. — Hervey^ vol. 1. diaL 3. Was 
not this the language of that solemn rite ? JSTow you 



arc made cleaUy let all tj our faculties and Jioivers be 
devoted to the service of God, Let your ears be often 
to the C07n77ia7ids of God, Let the works of your ha7ids 
be established aud accepted by hitn. Let your foot- 
steps be 07'deTrd in his ivord. The oil that was put 
upon the blood, most certainly signifies the Holy 
Ghost as a Spirit of sanctification. By the blood of 
his merit, he forgives all our iniquities; and by the 
oil of his Spirit, he heals all our diseases. By the first 
we are justified. By the second we are sanctified. 
By the one sin shall not condemn, to suffer the pun- 
ishment it deserves ; and by the other it shall not 
command, to obey the orders it gives. And whereas 
the remnant of the oil in the priest's hand, was to 
be poured on his head that was cleansed ; this most 
undoubtedly x^^'efigured the shedding of the Holy 
Ghost on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
Saviour. It is said in one place, ** Ye have an unc- 
tion from the holy One ;" and in another, " He who 
hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, 
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our heart." 

How foolish a part had the Israelite acted, who 
had contented himself with making application to 
the physician, without having recourse to the priest 
tor tne cleansing of his leprosy ! Alas ! the bairn in 
Gilead could not supply the place of the sacrificial 
blood. Nor do they act a wiser part, who seek to the 
physicians of their own legal endeavours for the 
cure of their leprosy, but not unto Jesus Christ, the 
High-Priest who stands ready with his hissop and 
blood. Can the rivers of Damascus compare with 
the waters of Israel } Bring us, O Lord, to the Jor- 
dan oi thy grace for cleansing these leprous souls. 
*' Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make us clean. O 
sprinkle us with hissop, and we shall be whiter than 
the snow." 



( 165 ) 



XIV. THE LAW OF THE NEAR KINSMAX 



•00000- 



IT is nbt for nought, the near kinsman among 
the Jews, and the Lord himself, are alike denomi- 
nated in the original language of the Hebrews. Why 
should the name Goel be common to him that 
acted the kinsman's part among the Jews, and to 
the God of Israel, if there were not a great resem- 
blance betwixt the kindly offices of the one, and the 
gracious benefits of the other ? And the propriety 
of this observation will more evidently appear from 
an induction of particulars. For what the earthly 
Goel, or nearest blood relation was injoined to do 
for his brother under the law, the heavenly Goel, 
that is, the all gracious Redeemer, hath done in the 
most eminent manner for sinners of the human race 
under the gospel. If an Israelite died without chil- 
dren, the Goel was to marry his widow to raise up 
seed unto his brother, that his name might not per- 
ish. If through poverty he had sold away his pos- 
session, the Goel was to buy back his inheritance. 
If for the same reason, he had sold himself for a ser- 
vant to another man, the Goel was to redeem him 
from his master. And, lastly, if an Israelite was 
murdered, his Goel was to avenge his blood, by 
bringing the wilful murderer to suffer condign pun- 
ishment. Waving the political reason of these laws, 
we shall confine ourselves to their allegorical inter- 
pretation : for on all these accounts the believer in 
the promised Messiah, may say of him with Job, / 
know my Goel livet/i. 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us this day 
without a kinsman, to marry and raise up the seed 
of good works unto our barren nature. Once she 
was fruitful unto God, before the breach of the first 
covenant. But now, alas ! the image of God she wore 
at first is miserably defaced, her husband the law 
is become dead and weak through the flesh, and she 
can bring forth no children unto God, that is, can 
produce no action that bears resemblance unto him, 



166 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

or corresponds to the demands of the law. Sin and 
death, these are the only births of corrupt nature ; 
and we may truly say of all men in their unrenewed 
state, " They conceive mischief, they bring forth 
falsehood, and their belly prepareth deceit." At best 
they can only say, '* We have laboured, we have 
been in pain, we have brought forth wind." But the 
loving kinsman consented to marry this barren na- 
ture, by assun^ing a true body and a reasonable soul, 
its two essential parts, into a personal union with him- 
self, and by uniting with himself, in a mystical union, 
a great number of individuals of our race. It is true, 
the match was most unequal, and huge difficnlties 
were to be surmounted before the marriage could 
be solemnized, and the bride prepared for her hus- 
band. But his love vvas stronger than death itself, and 
we are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, 
that we might be married to another husband, even 
to him that was raised from the dead, that the bar- 
ren woman might keep house, and become a joyful 
mother of children. Now that our Maker is our 
husband, she that was barren hath born seven, and 
the promise is accomplished, " Thy wife shall be 
as a fruitful vine by the side of thy house, her chil- 
dren like olive-plants round about thy table." We 
may truly affirm of all the happy souls that are 
espoused to the one husband, " Every one beareth 
twins," the love of God and his neighbour, ** and 
none is barren among them." I'hese '* children are 
indeed the heritage of the Lord, and this fruit of 
the womb his reward: happy is the man that hath 
his quiver full of them." Htre am /, will he say in 
the great day of the Lord, and the children whom 
thou hast give?i me. 

Blessed^be the Lord wlio hath not left us without 
a Kinsman to redeem the mortgaged inheritance of 
everlasting life, which alas ! we sold away for one 
morsel of forbidden fruit, but are not able to bay 
back again by all the money of our obedience or suf- 
ferings. None of our kin were able to pay the price. 
For all men being equally involved in the same ruin, 
none of them could redeem his brother: and angels, 
though glorious and perfect creatures, yet needed 
all their holiness for themselves; and had they un- 



THE LAW OF THE NEAR KINSMAN. 167 

dertook to pay our debt they would have, like the 
kinsman in Ruth, but marred their own inheritance. 
But lo! what men and angels could not have done^ 
the Son of God, clothed in flesh and blood, hath 
completely effected. The ransom was paid down in 
the liquid gold of his precious blood, to the utmost 
farthing of the legal demand. Now heaven is a pur- 
chased possession, and by thy poverty we are be- 
come rich, O gracious Redeemer, who for our sakes 
becamest poor, though the silver and the gold is 
thine. 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us without 
a Kinsman to redeem, not only the inheritance to 
us» but us to the inheritance : for being reduced to 
the most abject poverty by the loss of original righ- 
teousness, and communion with God, we sold our- 
selves, like the prodigal son in the parable, to the 
most sordid slavery of the devil, sold ourselves for 
a wretched sustenance, the husks that swine do eat. 
From this inglorious servitude we could not by any 
means have extricated ourselves, except the kins- 
man, the Redeemer had come to Zion, had taken 
upon him the form of a servant, and given himself 
a ransom for all. Such was the hard condition of our 
rescue; but in his love and in his pity he redeemed 
us, who had sold ourselves for nought : for with the 
Lord is plenteous redemfition^ a?id he vjill redeem 
Israel from all his iniquities. 

Blessed be the Lord who hath not left us without 
a Kinsman to be the avenger of our blood, when the 
prince of the rebellious angels had massacred the hu- 
man i*ace in the loins of their great progenitor. That 
wicked spirit, stung with fierce resentment against 
the avenging God, and stimulated with envy against 
innocent and happy men, seduced him to fall off 
from his Creator, and to partake of his revolt. Thus 
he was a murderer from the beginning, not only of 
our bodies, which are by his means subjected unto 
the first death, but of our souls, that are naturally- 
dead in trespasses in sins, and hable to everlasting 
vengeance, which is the second death. The holy 
and righteous law of God was, shall we say, the city 
of refuge to which he fled. He boasted, *' Shall the 
prey be taken from the mighty ^ Shall the lawful 



168 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II, 

captive be delivered ?" For having in some sense the 
power of death, the sting of v^hich was sin, and the 
strength of sin was the law, what mere creature 
was able to enter into the palace of this strong 
armed Apollyon, and spoil him of his armour ? 
Whoever enters on this arduous enterprise, he 
must be able to unsting death, by satisfying the law. 
Here then let us adopt the sublime rapture of the 
prophet, ** The Lord saw it, and it displeased him 
that there was no judgment. And he saw that there 
was no man, and wondered that there was no inter- 
cessor : therefore his arm brought salvation unto 
him ; and his righteousness it sustained him. For he 
put on righteousness as a breast -plate, and an hel- 
met of salvation upon his head ; and he put on the 
garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad 
with zeal as with a cloak." Or shall we use the style 
of the New Testament apostle, when speaking of 
this very thing? '* Forasmuch then as the children 
are partakers of flesh and blopd, he also himself 
likewise took part of the same, that through death 
he might destroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil." The Redeemer has died, the 
Redeemer has risen again, O Satan, where is thy 
power ? O death, where is thy sting .> For though 
the sting of death is sin^ and though the strength 
of sin is the law, thanks be to God who gives us the 
victory through Jesus Christ our Lord, The glori- 
ous Avenger of our blood has not only punished the 
murderer, (which is all that man can do for his 
slaughtered brother,) but has restored life to the 
murdered, that in their own persons they may over- 
come the wicked one. Thus has he redeemed their 
soul from deceit and violence, and precious has their 
blood been in his sight. 



(169) 
XV. THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 

00000 

WHEN the knowledge of the true God was lost 
among the degenerate nations, the family of Abra- 
ham was chosen to be the repository of that most 
invaluable treasure. It was promised in a solemn man- 
ner to this venerable patriarch, that he should have 
a numerous progeny, and a peculiar seed, that should 
become an universal blessing to the world. In pro- 
cess of time he was the progenitor of a mighty na- 
tion, divided into twelve tribes, who being for a long 
time the only visible society where God was wor- 
shipped, were distinguished from other people with 
very high appellations and valuable privileges. They 
are stiled in the Old Testament, •* a peculiar trea- 
sure, a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation, the 
inheritance, the vineyard, the congregation, the 
tribes of the Lord of hosts, and his first-born son. To 
them pertained the adoption, the glory, the cove- 
nants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and 
the promises. Theirs were the fathers, and from 
them the Messias himself was to spring according 
to the fiesh." This famous nation, after many vicis- 
situdes of fortune, were at last, for the horrid crime 
of rejecting and murdering the Messiah, disinherited 
by the offended God of their fathers, divested of all 
their glorious privileges, ejected from the land of 
promise, and are become miserable wanderers 
among the nations. 

What shall we say then to these things ? Has God 
cast away his people ? Is there no Israel now to be 
found, among whom his name is great ? Yes; though 
Israel according to the flesh is no more the people 
of God, still there is a holy nation, a royal priest- 
hood, a peculiar people, a true circumcision, that 
worship God in the spirit, and have no confidence 
in, the flesh. The sinners of the gentiles, who were 
once polluted as dogs, stupid as stones, are now by 
the power of divine grace become the children of 
Abraham and the true Israel of God. John saw the 

P 



170 T^TICAL THINGS. Book II. 

Christian Israel sealed in his mysterious vision, of 
every tribe a select number. And the twelve apos- 
tles of the Lamb are said, in a prophetic style, to sit 
on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve apostate 
tribes of Israel, when they became the spiritual 
fathers of the holy Christian nation, of which the 
Israel according to the flesh was a figure. Let us see 
where the resemblance lies. 

And, first. We might observe the smallness of 
their beginning. They were once but few in number, 
the fewest of all- people, as their law-giver told them. 
Though afterwards they received a prodigious in- 
crease, they descended from twelve men, who sprung 
from one as good as dead, that was called being alone. 
Exactly so, the Gentile church, though a great mul- 
titude that no man can number, are the spiritual chil- 
dren of the twelve apostles, who sprung from one 
that was actually dead, though he lives for ever- 
more. Though the beginning of the gospel-church 
was small, like a grain of seed, or a little leaven, 
yet its latter end did greatly increase. 

Secondly, The number of their enemies deserves 
our attention. This ancient people were never with- 
out enemies of one sort or other, in Egypt, in the 
wilderness, and even in Canaan itself. The church 
of Christ has always in this state of warfare her 
Egypt, her Amalek. her Edom, her Moab, her Phi- 
listmes, and her Babylon. This last being the most 
eminent foe of the ancient race of Israel, is viewed, 
in the prophetic book of the New Testament, as a 
figure of the mahgnant church, or Antichristiaa 
state, the most formidable adversary of the true 
church since the ascension of our Lord. And truly, 
the prophetic descriptions of ancient Babylon, by 
whose rivers the melancholy captives of Israel sat 
down and wept, are, with the most evident pro- 
priety, applied by the New Testament prophet to 
that powerful, that wealthy, that idolatrous, that 
persecuting church of Rome, that sits on the many 
waters of kindreds, and nations, and people, and 
tongues. Though, like the ancient Babylon, her 
predecessor and type, she should defy all danger, live 
deliciously, and boast she is a queen, and no widow, 
and shall not know the loss of children ; yet at the 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 171 

appointed time, the cry of her destruction, her final, 
her total destruction, shall be heard : DaugJiter of 
Babylon, near to destruction^ blessed shell he be that 
rewards thee, as thou hast done unto us. 

The eminent deliverances of Israel is the next 
thing we shall notice. Though ihey were an afflicted 
nation from the beginning, lying among the pots, 
travelling through the floods, traversing the wilder- 
ness, weeping by Babel's streams; yet *' happy wast 
thou, O Israel, a people saved by the Lord, the 
shield of thy help, and the sword of thine excel- 
lency." The house of bondage could not detain them, 
the waters of the sea could not overflow them, the 
wilderness could not famish them, and Babylon could 
not hold them in captivity. Who knows not, that 
these illustrious works of God in behalf of the cho- 
sen seed, are sung in lofty numbers by the inspired 
penman, in phrases that describe the common salva- 
tion, and the redemption of the world from still 
more dreadful foes ? And the illustrious persons, 
who, under God, achieved the several rescues of an- 
cient Israel, are spoke of in the prophets in phrases 
that may be well adapted to the Messiah himself. 

The singularity of their laws and customs, which 
•were by Heaven's appointment, diverse from all 
people, was no doubt intended to adumbrate the dis- 
tinguishing sanctity, so different from the fashions 
of this world, which ought to adorn the holy Chris- 
tian nation. The Jews of old were not more ridiculed 
by their scornful neighbours, for the seeming oddity 
of their national usages, than the peculiar people of 
Christ have been in every age, for their zealous at- 
tachment to the divine law, and because they were 
not conformed to his world. 

But a principal thing for which the Jewish nation 
was a typical people, is the glorious national privile- 
ges they possessed, the chief of which we shall men- 
tion. To them belonged the adoption to be God's 
first-born son. or the election to be his peculiar peo- 
ple : a privilege that exalted them higti above all 
nations, and yet was not conferred upon them because 
of their own worthiness or excellency, of what- 
ever kind, but solely because it was the good plea- 
sure of God to bestow this glorious dignity upon 



If 2 TYPICAL THINGS. Book It. 

them. Even so the election and adoption of the ge- 
neral assembly and church of the first-born, whose 
names are written in heaven, arises from the same 
source, the good pleasure of his will, and purpose in 
grace, not of works, lest any man should boast. To 
them belonged the glorious symbols of the divine 
presence, as the holy temple, the sacred fire, and 
the bright cloud of the sanctuary, though by degrees 
these shadows vanished, as the body approached. 
What nation was so great, to have the Lord so near 
them in the visible tokens of his presence? None 
but that holy nation, whose prerogative it is to be- 
hold the glory of the incarnate Word, God mani- 
fested in the flesh. To them belonged the law or 
covenant of works, ordained in the hand of Moses as 
a Mediator betwixt God and them. So to the Chris- 
tian church belongs the law or covenant of works, 
ordained in the hand of Jesus Christ, the Mediator 
between God and man. Their mediator could not 
fulfil the law for them ; they brake the covenant, 
and God regarded them not. But Christ hath mag- 
nified the law, and made it honourable, by a most 
complete satisfaction, and meritorious obedience. To 
them belonged a civil government, modelled by God 
himself; for their statQ was a theocracy, and the 
Lord said unto them, ** I will be thy king." Exactly 
so, the laws of the New Testament kingdom are all 
enacted by him that sits upon the throne ; nor must 
the ordinances of men claim homage from the sub- 
jects of Jesus Christ, except in so far as they com- 
port with his positive institutions. To them belonged 
the service of God, according to these rites which 
himself prescribed. An emblem of that reasonable 
and acceptable service which appertains to the true 
church, and which is found no where but among the 
societies of Christian worshippers. To them per- 
tained the promises of rest in Canaan the pleasant 
land, and of victory over the devoted nations. So to 
the christian church belongs the promise of everlast- 
ing life, and final rest in the better heavenly coun- 
try, to recompense their wanderings through the 
mazy wilderness of this world.; and the promise of 
complete victory over the nations of spiritual foes, 
the lusts that war in their earthly members : A more 



THE HOLY NATION OF ISRAEL. 173 

glorious honour this than to storm a city: as he that 
ruleth over his own sfiirit^ is better than the mighty. 
This honour have all the saints. 

Here let us end — adoring the riches of that divine 
goodness, in bringing nigh, by the blood of his dear 
Son, those that were far off, Gentiles in the uncir- 
cumcision of their flesh, aliens from the common- 
wealth of Israel — trembhng at the severity of divine 
justice towards that sinful nation » who are now as 
much depressed below all other people, as once 
they were exalted above them. Let us recollect the 
apostle's necessary admonition : " Because of unbe- 
lief they were tjroken off. and by faith we stand. Be 
not high-minded, but fear.'' Happy they who are 
endowed with this noble grace. Such are Israelites 
indeed, though Abraham be igiiorant of them^ and 
Israel according to thejiesh acknoivledge them not. 
For ifnve are Chris fs^ then are we AbrahairC s seedy 
and heirs according to the promise. 



P 2 



(174) 



XVI. THE VICTORY OVER THEN ATIO^^S 
OF CANAAN. 

00000 

BEFORE the tribes of the Lord could possess 
their goodly heritage^ the numerous and mighty 
nations that dwell in Canaan were first to be ex- 
pelled. What if for once the eternal Sovereign, and 
just governor of the world, shall transfer to a chosen 
seed, the property of a land inhabited by guilty 
wretches, and " put into their hand a two-edged 
sword, to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and 
punishments upon the people ; to bind their kings 
with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron ; to 
execute upon them the judgment written:" shall we 
therefore presume to censure the Majesty of heaven 
as cruel and unjust ? No : the horrid wickedness 
of these nations fully justified the severity of their 
doom : and the peremptory command of God ab- 
solves the Israelites from the charge of barbarity, 
in becoming the executioners of the sentence. \i 
some in later ages have, with eqiial cruelty and in- 
justice, for Heaven's cause, (a horrid pretence !) 
made desolate the earth, let them not plead this 
precedent: for as such a mandate was never given 
before, so shall it never be repeated again. But 
leaving it to God himself to vindicate his ways to 
man, as he is well able to do, we shall proceed to 
notice that spiritual privilege of the true Israel, sig- 
nified by this victory over the nations. 

Perhaps it was not improper to view it as an em- 
blem of the conquest over the world obtained by the 
first preachers and possessors of Christianity, un- 
der ihe banner of the cross, though not with carnal 
weapons. Though it is very fit that the antichristian 
kingdom shall be promoted by the horrid methods 
of torture, massacre, fire, and faggot, the Son of 
man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them. If the apostles of the Lamb had a two-edged 
sword in their hand, it was the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of God: faith was their shield, 



THE VICTORY OVER THE NATIONS OF CANAAN. 17^5 

righteousness their breast-plate» and their helmet 
was the hope of salvation. Equipt with this armour 
of light, they subdued the nations to the obedience 
of faith ; nor could the persecutor's sword, the phi- 
losopher's wisdom, nor the inveterate customs of 
the populace, received by tradition from their fathers, 
retard the progress of their victorious arms, though, 
to the outward eye, they seemed but as grass-hop- 
pers before these formidable sons of Anak. 

We might also here take occasion to think of that 
dominion which the upright shall have in the morn- 
ing of the resurrection, when the saints of the Most 
High shall sit with Christ upon his throne, and, in 
such manner as is competent unto them, shall judge 
the world of wicked men and angels. Even in this 
imperfect state, the lustre of divine graces, and 
beauties of holiness, have commanded respect and 
veneration in the minds of proud and wicked men. 
A judge has trembled before a prisoner, and a fox 
has feared a lamb. These are preludes of that final 
superiority of the righteous in the decisive hour of 
judgment, when the evil shall bow before the good, 
and be ashamed for their envy at the people they 
despised. 

But chiefly the Canaanites we must endeavour to 
extirpate, are the lusts that war in our members, 
that war against the soul. Against these inward foes 
must we lift the hand of violence, if we mean to take 
the kingdom of heaven. Israelites indeed, here point 
your revenge, here bend your indignation ! To pity 
these is the highest cruelty to yourselves and to 
make any league with them is to be overcome. To 
mingle with these nations, was fatal to Israel of old ; 
they were forbid to seek their peace or their wealth 
for ever : but if they should cleave to the remnant of 
these nations, on whatever pretence, " know for 
certain, that the Lord your God will no more drive 
them out, but they shall be snares and traps unto 
you, scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, 
and shall vex you in the good land wherein ye dwell.'' 
Such grieving thorns are unmortified corruptions in 
our hearts : and if we consult our peace and safety, 
it will be our constant work to weaken their power 
by all possible means. But to attempt a reconcili'a- 



176 TYPICAL THINGS. Book II. 

tion of holiness and sin, to mediate peace between 
these conlraiy principle^, is to entail upon ourselves 
a source of peipetual disquietude. 

The Canaanitish nations ^vere not only the first 
inhabitants of the country, but greater in number, 
and mightier in power than Israel their conqueror. 
So in the holy war» the sin ihat dwells in the souU 
is the first possessor, and mightier than the principle 
of grace received. Thanks to its omnipotent Ally, 
that iniquity prevails not against it. even to a total 
victory. Let none be deterred from fighting the good 
fight of faith against these inward enemies, though 
perhaps some branches of the body of sin may seem 
so vivacious, as even to gather new hfe by tlieir 
foils; may seem to have entrenched themselves so 
deeply in the constitution of the soul, and to derive 
so many advantages from outward circumstances 
in life, that to expel them is equally impossible as 
for the Israelites to drive out those Canaanites who 
had chariots of iron. Under the divine conduct of 
Jesus Christ, our true Joshua, we shall set our feet 
upon the necks of these dreaded foes. Take unto 
you the whole armour of' God, and remove every 
accursed thing from the midst of thee, O Israel, 
iind the Lord thy God will drive out these nations 
before thee by little and httle. Their defence is 
already departed fiom them since the law, the 
strength of sin, is perfectly fulfilled, and stript of its 
condemning power. A time, a happy x^ime will come, 
when no jebusite shall dwell in the land, Avhen no 
latent corruption shall infest thy soul, and there shall 
be no pricking briar, nor any grieving thorn to the 
house of Israel : for it is the gracious promise of 
the Captain of our salvation, ** He that ovcrcomelh, 
and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I 
give power over the nations, and he shall rule them 
with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shaU 
they be broken to shivers. 



{177) 



XVII. THE ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 



'00000- 



AS we are informed by the great apostle of the 
Gentiles, that the private history ot Abraham's 
family, was a presage of the events that happened to 
his posterity, we shall glance at it a little. This faith- 
ful patriarch had received the promise of a seed, in 
whom all nations should be blessed. But the accom- 
plishment was long delayed, his wife proved barren, 
old age was stealing on apace, and there seemed no 
human probability that Sarah should have a son. 
She ought, however, to have believed him faithful 
who had promised, and fully able to perform what 
he had said. She should not have devised unlawful 
means of helping the promise to bring forth, but pa- 
tiently expected God's time of visitation, which is 
always the best. But it was otherwise : for in the 
ardour of impatience she urges Abraham her hus- 
band to marry her bond-maid, fondly imagining that 
this stratagem might compensate her own barren- 
ness, and forward the birth of the promised seed. 
Whatever humility and self denial this good woman 
may be supposed to have acted, in making such a 
proposal, it cannot certainly be vindicated from the 
charge of being in itself immoral, and contrary to 
the original dictates of the law of nature : for though 
polygamy was ordinarily practised in the primitive 
ages of the world, and even in the patriarchal fami- 
lies who professed the true religion, it is neither to 
be excused nor imitated. There is no ground to think 
that God approved, though he tolerated the custom 
of having more wives than one. From the beginning 
it was not so. And indeed the family-broils, which 
the scripture frequently mentions, as occasioned by 
this practice, is a sufficient confirmation of its mani- 
fest inconvenience. Of this we have a little instance 
in the present case: for no sooner is this unlawful 
overture of Sarah complied with by her husband, 
by taking Hagar into his bed, than the insolent and 
disrespectful carriage of the bond-maid, when she 



178 T?¥PICAL THINGS. Book IX. 

saw that she had conceived, raised such variance in 
the family, that at last she is obliged to run away 
from the resentment of her injured mistress. But 
returning and humbling herself, a peace was again 
patched up for a time. She bears Ishmael, Abra- 
ham's first-born son. But this was not the child of 
the promise. There was nothing extraordinary abouc 
his birth, which' was, to use the phrase of the apos- 
tle, after the Jiesh. I'he happy seed, that should 
become a blessing to the world, must be born in law- 
ful wedlock, not of a bond-maid, but of a free woman. 
And, Sarah, why did you doubt if the power of God 
was able to make the barren woman a joyful mother? 
How absurd is it for any to hasten providence ? Give 
it time, and it will do all things well. For when, in 
process of time, Abraham's body is dead as Sarah's 
womb, lo, Isaac is conceived and born, Isaac the 
promised seed, Isaac the long expected child is 
brought forth, to the great joy of his parents, a son 
of their old age. By this time Ishmael is become 
a youth, and arrived at years of some discretion ; 
but he walks rather in the steps of his mother than 
of his father, and is so daring as to mock at his younger 
brother, at his weaning feast. Though one would be 
willing to excuse this behaviour, as proceeding only 
from puerile levity, the severity of the punishment 
inflicted for this fault, seems to evince, that there 
•was a great mixture of impiety in this insulting car- 
riage, and that the promise itself was the chief thing 
he derided. It could not fail to be very irritating to 
Sarah, toobsers^e how ill her kindness to Hagar was 
requited by the undutiful deportment of her son; 
and Vhen she urged their present dismission from 
the family, Abraham was not over ready to comply 
with this request, because of the affection he bore 
to Ishmael ; and he hoped that the passion of his 
wife, though just, would soon subside. But the mo- 
tion of Sarah, ** Cast out the bond-woman and her 
son, for the son of the bond- worn an shall not be heir 
with my son, even with Isaac." is backed with a 
mandate from God himself. And accordingly the 
father of the Jewish nation, which is very remarka- 
ble, discards from his family his eldest son, who 
was equally circumcised with Isaac, never, as would 



THE ALLEGORY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 179 

seem, to return again. And this was done by the 
positive command of God himself, with a special 
view to prefigure the future rejection of a great part 
of Abraham's natural posterity, that were only de- 
scended from him according to the fiesh. 

That this was the secret design of Providence in 
this memorable story, might been conjectured from 
the narrative of Moses. But we are not allowed so 
much as to doubt of it by that infallible expositor 
of the law, Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, who 
discoursing on this very subject to the revolted Gal- 
latian churches, expressly says, " Which things are 
an allegory, for these (women) are the two cove- 
nants." According to this apostle, Hagar, with hep 
son was secretly designed to represent the covenant 
that prescribes our own obedience as the represen- 
tation of which covenant was exhibited at mount 
Sinai in Arabia, and it also answers to Jerusalent 
that now is, and is in bondage with her children, that 
is, to the present apostate church of the Jews, who 
expect to be justified by the works of the law, and 
all who imitate their example. Upon the other 
hand, Sarah the free woman, with Isaac her son, is 
an emblem of the covenant that directs to look for 
salvation only by the righteousness of a middle per- 
son, without the works of the law ; which covenant 
was published from mount Zion, and answers to 
Jerusalem above, or the true church, whether of 
Jews or Gentiles, that is free from the legal yoke, 
and is the mother of us all, if we believe. Let usl 
pursue this beautiful allegory a little in the track 
which the apostle has marked out. 

And, first, it may be said, that as Sarah the free 
woman was before Hagar, so the promise was be- 
fore the law, and the covenant of grace antecedent 
unto the covenant of works. Not to speak of the 
federal transaction betwixt the Father and the Son^ 
which the scripture frequently mentions ascommenc- 
ing from all everlasting, the promise, or revelation 
of this eternal covenant, was exhibited to the church 
long before the Sinai dispensation. 

Again, as Sarah was the mistress, and Hagar the 
maid ; so the gospel is the mistress to which the law 
was subservient. If Hagar had kept her station. 



ISO TYPICAL THINGS. Boob II. 

"without departing from that subordination she owed 
to Sarah, she might then been of singular use in the 
patriarch's family, instead of raising the broils and 
animosities which were afterwards occasioned by 
her. For a servant bearing rule, is one of SolomonV 
unseemly things; and among other things which 
the earth cannot bear, and for which it is disquieted, 
he mentions an odious woman when she is married, 
and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. So if 
the legal covenant be kept in its own room and place, 
.she may greatly serve the covenant of grace ; she 
may be remarkably useful to convince of sin, and to 
endear a Saviour: for the laiv^sis the apostle affirms, 
is good, if a man use it lawfully. But if this bond- 
maid the law assume the sole dominion, and rival 
her mistress, to whom she should humble herself, 
that is, if she takes upon her to justify and save, 
she then works wrath, and is fatally pernicious. And 
this the event proved. 

Hagar, is taken (unseemly as it was) into the bed 
of Sarah. This seems to have prefigured, that the 
law should be taken into the room of the gospel: for 
as Abraham, after he was married to the free- wo- 
man, turned aside to the bond-maid; so his pos- 
terity, after they received the prom.ise, from whence 
alone they should have looked for justification, and 
everlasting life, turned aside to the law, which was 
added for other ends, and expected from the law, 
that which the promise can only confer. Whoever 
they be, whether of the Jewish or Christian denomi- 
nation, that depend upon their own righteousness, 
either as the sole or partial cause of their salvation, 
they are guilty of the same fault in the mystery, that 
Abraham was in the letter, when he permitted Ha- 
gar to ascend the bed of her mistress. 

Fhough Sarah was long barren, Hagar is not. The 
birth of Ishmael is not near so difficult as the birth 
of Isaac* It is a far easier matter for the law to gen- 
der children into bondage, than for the promise to 
bring forth children unto liberty. Jerusalem above, 
or the true gospel church, labours indeed to bring 
forth spiritual children : but, ah ! how few are the 
children of this free woman, to the vast shoals of le- 
giil professors who desire to be under the law ! Tht 



THE ALL1EG0RY OF HAGAR AND SARAH. 18X 

most eminent preachers of the gospel have had 
ground of complaining, Lord^ who hath believed 
our refiort! and that they laboured in vain, and 
spent their strength in vain, and for nought. But as 
the womb of Sarah was at last opened, after it had 
been long shut ; so of the gospel church her antitj^pe, 
the prophet cries, " Sing, O barren, thou that didst 
not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, 
thou that didst not travail with child: for more are 
the children of the desolate, than the children of the 
married wife, saith the Lord.'* 

The insolent behaviour of Ishmael, the son of the 
bond-maid, when he mocked the child of promise, 
■who was nobler than himself, is an emblem of the 
persecuting spirit of self-justiciaries against the true 
believers in all ages : for as he who was born after 
the flesh, persecuted him who was born after the 
Spirit, even so it is now, Witness the enmity of the 
Jews against the spreading of the gospel, Witness 
the Papists' bloody rage. Witness, ye flames that re- 
duced to ashes the bodies of so many noble martyrs. 
Yes, and all that will live godly m Christ Jesus, 
must be content, in one shape or another, to suffer 
persecution. 

Lastly, The sentence of exclusion from Abraham's 
family pronounced by the scripture against the bond- 
woman and her son, was a sure presage of the irre- 
vocable doom of all the children of the law, though, 
like the circumcised, but mocking Ishmael, they are 
born in the church, and wear^ the professor's badge. 
'♦ Abraham" says the scripture, " rose early in the 
morning, took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave 
it unto Hagar, and the child, and sent her away, and 
she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of 
Beersheba." Even so the carnal Jews, though Abra- 
ham's natural seed, are now cast out from the 
church, and wander through the world. And all who 
remain under the law, and are not, as Isaac was, the 
children of the promise, shall be in like manner cast 
out from the presence of God, and excluded from the 
heavenly inheritance. 



BOOK HI. 

TYPICAL PLACES. 



•00000' 



I. THE LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 

To inspire the minds of the Israelites with the 
greater horror at the dreadful sin of murder, it 
pleased God, Iheir Judge and Law-giver, not only to 
appoint that the murderer should be put to death, 
but to permit the avenger of blood, or the near kins- 
man, to kill with impunity from men the unfortunate 
manslayer, who, without malice or design, was the 
instrument of taking away the life of his neighbour. 
But to counterbalance this permission, and to protect 
an unhappy man from the effects of rash resentment, 
it pleased the same good God to appoint cities of 
refuge in his commonwealth, to which the man- 
slayer might fly as his sanctuary from the avenger. 
These cities were six in number ; three in the land 
of Canaan, and three on the other side of Jordan. 
They belonged to the tribe of Levi. The roads to 
them were prepared by authority, And that nothing 
might retard the flight of the hapless manslayer, to 
whom every moment was precious, they say, that 
the breadth of the road was thirty-two cubits: that 
where there happened to be water, it was laid over 
with a bridge ; and that, at the cross ways, the in- 
scription of RtfugCy Refuge, directed where to bend 
his course. In the city of refuge he was supplied 
with all necessary accommodations, and his life once 
more was protected by the laws of the realm. He 
was not, however, to venture without the precinct of 
the hospitable town ; for if the avenger of blood 
should find and kill him, he would not been punished 
as a murderer for doing it. The death of the high- 
priest was the first thing that released him from his 



184 TYPiCAt PLACES. Book III. 

confinement, and left him at liberty to go where ever 
he pleased. Even so, by the death of the great High- 
Priest, the guilty sinner is rescued from bondage and 
confinement, into the glorious liberty of the sons of 
God. 

But what we intend chiefly to notice here, is the 
resemblance, betwixt the flight of the manslayer to 
the cities of refuge, and of the sinner to Jesus Christ 
as the hope set before him. And perhaps it will ap- 
pear very probable, that the method of our salvation 
was typified by this Mosaic law ; at least that here 
is no contemptible allegory. 

Let the manslayer be an emblem of the guilty 
sinner, who, by violating the precept of the hOly 
law, butchers his own soul, murders his neighbour, 
and, in some manner, assasinates God himself, 
whose very being is struck at by the commission of 
every sin. 

Let the avenger of blood denote the inexorable 
justice of an angry God, whose wrath it is alike im- 
possible to shun or to endure ; — the dreadful curse 
of che condemrting law, whose quiver is filled with 
the arrows of every divine threatening ; — the in- 
venomed sting of a resentful conscience, which in- 
fixed in the soul, can make it a terror to itself, and 
all around; — or death, the grizzly king of terrors, 
the universal destroyer of the nations through fear 
of whom many are held in bondage all their lifetime. 
Yea, what creature is not ready, at the slightest 
intimation of the divine will, to start up an avenger 
of its Creator's quarrel against the obnoxious 
criminal? 

Let the cities of refuge represent the glorious Im- 
manuel, and his blessed mediation. These cities per- 
tained to the promised land, and were to be found no 
where else. So the salvation of Jesus Christ is exhi- 
bited in the Church : Ufion mount Zion thcte shall be 
deliverance ; and God is known in her palaces for a 
refuge. They belonged to the priestly tribe. And the 
priestly office ot the Redeemer is that branch of his 
character which affords the most immediate lelief to 
the sin burdened soul. They were six in number, and 
scattered through the territories of Israel at conve- 
nient distances, that where ever the misfortune 



THE LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 1SS 

should happen, the manslayer might not have far to 
go to one or other of them* May not this put us in 
mind, that our Redeemer is a present help in trou- 
ble ? To find whom we need neither climb up into 
heaven, nor dive into the bottom of the sea ; for the 
word is nigh unto us. And in this word the great Je- 
hovah brings near his righteousness and his salva- 
tion. The patency and plainness of the roads that 
led to these cities of protection, may occasion our re- 
flecting on much the same thing. Guilty, condemned, 
trembling sinner, see how thy city of refuge expands 
her gates ! How the stumbling blocks are removed ! 
How the way is prepared ! How the law is satisfied, 
justice atoned, and God reconciled ! How the way- 
faring man, though a fool, needs not err in the way 
of holiness! Nothing, nothing ought to retard thy 
present flight unto the hope set before thee, or hinder 
thy present trusting in Christ for everlasting salva- 
tion from sin, and its dreadful consequences. 

But who is he that thus flies for refuge to Jesus 
Christ from the inexorable justice of an angry God, 
and from the dreadful curse of a condemning law ? 
If the manslayer had not been conscious of the deed, 
and apprehensive of the kinsman's resentment on 
that account, he w^ould not have judged it necessary 
to save himself by flight. And if he could have 
thought of a better expedient to insure his safety, 
he would not have fled to a city where he must long re- 
main a prisoner, and in exile. But necessity, hard ne- 
cessity, drove him to it as his only sanctuary. Even 
so the refugee who flies to Jesus Christ from the 
avenging wrath of God, is a person in whose heart 
is wrought a conviction of his guilt, an apprehension 
of his danger, and a despair of every refuge* Form- 
erly he had a very favourable opinion of himself, and 
his convictions of moral guilt were so general and 
moderate, as to sit easy upon his mind, without 
wounding his rest. He thought it no difficult matter 
to elude the divine threatenings, and imagined him- 
self secure, because he was thoughtless of danger. 
The secrecy of sin, the example of the multitude, 
the hope of long life, the distance of the day of judg- 
ment, the presumption of God's mercy, his privileges 
and reputation as a member of the church; these, 

q2 



185 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III^ 

and such like things, he fled unto as a sanctuary from 
his melancholy thoughts. Or perhaps he stilled the 
enemy and avenger of an accusing conscience, with 
business, with recreation, and with sensual indul- 
gences. But now a dreadful sound of vengeance is in 
his ears. He sees the heinous guilt of his iniquities — 
hears with Adam the voice of God — knows not 
where to hide his guilty head — looks on his right 
hand, and beholds, but there is no shelter ; all refuge 
fails him, and no man cares for his soul. The method 
of salvaiion by Christ unfolds unto his view. ** This 
is the way, walk ye in it," says the voice from hea- 
ven ; and. " Turn to this strong hold, thou prisoner 
of hope." And as the man who flies for his life from 
a pursuing enemy will cast away from him any thing, 
however valuable, that would cumber and detain 
him ; so he parts at once both with his own righ- 
teousnesses ; and what things were gain to him, he 
counth them loss, that he may win Christ, and be 
found in him. He cries unto him, and says, " O Lord ! 
thou art my refuge: attend unto my cry, for I am 
brought very low : deliver me from my persecutors, 
for they are stronger than I." 

It wa*i not only required of the manslayer, that he 
should fly to the city of refuge for once : but he was 
to remain there till the death of the high-priest. Nor 
is it sufficient to believe in Christ for once, without 
abiding in him as our sure defence. Our High-Priest 
never dies, therefore should we abide in our refuge 
for ever :ybr i?i returning- and rest shall we be saved ^ 
m quietness and conjidmce shall he our strength, 

'I'he protection afforded to all, both Jews and Gen- 
tiles, (for there was no difference,) who fled to these 
cities of refuge, is no despicable representation of the 
ability in Jesus Christ to save to the uttermost all 
that come unio God by him. Soon as the wrexhed 
manslayer reached the wished town, where he was 
legally secure of life, and where (they say) no wea- 
pon were allowed to be made or sold, he could talk 
with the avenger, without turning pale ; though be- 
fore his throbbing heart beat high with the impulse 
of fear, while he thought that every man he met 
would slay him. Even so the miserable sinner, who 
has obtained a discovery of his guilt, and been ha- 



THE LAW OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 187 



rassed perhaps for some considerable time with a 
fearful looking for of judgment, his soul draws nigh 
unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers : the 
moment he finds his rest in Christ, by believing in 
him for life and salvation, he can sit and answer all 
his accusers, and talk with every enemy and avenger. 
** O enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual 
end." " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
God's elect? It is God that justifieth: it is Christ 
that died." Produce your charge, O law; and death, 
where is thy sting ? 

We shall, lastly, observe the superior excellency 
of our New Testament refuge to these ancient cities 
of protection. In all things he has the pre-eminence. 
None were to be finally privileged in these cities but 
the manslayer; who was not indeed guilty of any 
crime, but rather ill-fated and unhappy. If the wilful 
murderer had fled to any of them, or even to God's 
altar, he was to be dragged from thence to suiFer 
condign punishment. But none were ever dragged 
from Jesus Christ, who fled unto him by faith, to re- 
turn again into condemnation, however atrocious 
their crimes, however flagrant their guilt. Here 
murderers, adulterers, blasphemers, persecutors, 
and the most execrable miscreants that ever the sun 
beheld, have been for ever delivered from their 
Judge. — These ancient towns defended only the na- 
tui-al life from the avenger's sword, which was to be, 
however, soon paid as a debt to nature. But if Jesus 
Christ is our refuge, he will rescue us from evei^ 
lasting vengeance; he will give unto us eternal life, 
and we shall never perish. — The refugees in the old 
cities of refuge were indeed secured in their lives by 
the laws of the land. But the promise of God that 
cannot lie, and the oath of God which cannot be re- 
called, are two immutable things, by which their 
eternal happiness is secured, who have fled for 
refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them. 
Happy believer, thy consolation is strong indeed, 
stronger than the afflictions of life, stronger than the 
fear of death, and stronger than the terror of judg- 
ment. Why shouldst thou not dismiss thy fears, 
when thy never ending safety from the most dread- 
ful dangers is so amply secured, that God himself, 



188 TYPICAL PLACES. Book IIL 

for whom it is impossible to lie, would (O blasphe- 
mous thought!) be perjured, should thou ev<er come 
into condemnation. *' The eternal God is thy refuge, 
a very present help in trouble, though the earth be 
removed, and though the mountains be carried into 
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar 
and be troubled." 



(189) 
II. THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS, 

00000 

THE tabernacle which Moses made in the wil- 
derness, by the special appointment of the God of 
Israel, was the first religious structure in which the 
eternal Majesty vouchsafed to dwell on the earth. 
It was a sort of a portable temple, and not unfitly 
esteemed the centre of the ceremonial worship. The 
materials of it were collected by the voluntary con- 
tribution of the children of Israel, who, upon this oc- 
casion, offered so liberally, that Moses found it ne- 
cessary to stop them by a new proclamation. The 
pattern of it was minutely described to Moses in the 
mount by God himself, who ordered him to be very 
exact in executing the heavenly plan. Two famous 
artists, whose names were Bezaleel and Aholiab, 
were inspired by the Spirit of God with most ex- 
quisite and masterly skill, to finish the holy fabric, 
and its utensils, according to the divine plan. If you 
are curious to know the construction of this sacred 
tent, you may take this short description of it. 

First of all, there was a spacious court, a hundred 
cubits long, and fifty broad. It was hung round with 
curtains of fine twined linen, that were fastened with 
silver hooks to pillars with sockets of brass filleted 
with silver. The gate by which you entered to this 
wide area, was a hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, 
purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought 
with needle-work, and suspended by four pillars. 
This outward court the whole nation might enter on 
their solemn festivals, as it is said, '* Enter into his 
gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with 
praise." Here, under the open sky, stood the altar of 
burnt- offering, and the brazen laver. 

Within the circumference of this wide and open 
court was the tabernacle itself, into which none but 
the tribe of Levi were allowed to enter, to accom- 
plish the service of God. It was a close tent, twenty 
cubits long, ten cubits broad, and its height equal to 
its breadth. It was constructed of boards of Shittim-r 



190 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

wood of regular dimensions, running into one ano- 
ther. These boards were supported beneath with 
sockets of silver, and corroborated behind with bars 
of the same w^ood overlaid with gold, and fastened 
by golden rings through which they passed. Do you 
ask, what was the roof of this magnificent tent? 
First, it was covered with ten curtains of equal mea- 
sure, of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and 
scarlet, embroidered with cherubims, and coupled 
with loops of blue, and taches of gold. Then it was 
covered with eleven curtains of goats' hair, hung to- 
gether by taches of brass. Next it was covered with-- 
rams' skins dyed red. And above all, there was a 
covering of badgers' skins, to protect the tabernacle 
and its coverings from the injuries of the weather. 

But though these boards and curtains, thus joined 
together, made but one tabernacle, this one taberna- 
cle was divided into two apartments. The first was 
called the holy filace^ into which you entered through 
a vail or hanging of blue, purple, and scarlet, and 
fine twined linen, curiously embroidered, supported 
with ^\e pillars of Shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, 
and their bases of brass, and fastened with golden 
hooks. Here stood the golden table, the golden can- 
dlestick, and the golden altar. The second was called 
the most holy filace, into which the high -priest, and 
none but he, did enter once in the year, through a 
second vail, of the same materials with the first, 
embroidered with cherubims, and fastened by golden 
taches to four pillars of Shittim-wood, overlaid with 
gold, and their bases ot silver. In this secret chamber 
of the Deity were reposited the most sacred symbols 
of the divine presence. Here was the ark of the co- 
venant, covered by the mercy-seat, and over it the 
cherubims of glory, between which Jehovah himself 
was said to dwell. Here was the golden pot that had 
manna, and the miraculous rod of Aaron that budded. 
And here the appearance of the glory of the Lord is 
supposed to have resided, and been seen on special 
occasions. 

Such was the structure of this holy tent, which was 
built in the taste of heaven, reared up by the inspira- 
tion of the Holy Ghost, and consecrated by Moses. 
And we must not forget this one thing, that it was a 



THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. IQl 

moveable pavilion, and therefore so contrived as to 
be easy taken down, and set up again. While the 
peculiar people sojourned in the wilderness, the ta- 
bernacle shared the same fate, bein,^ transported 
from place to place, by the ministry of the Levites. 
When they possessed the promised land, at first it 
rested in Gilgal, afterwards in Shiloah, in the days 
of Saul it seems to have been in Nob, and when So- 
lomon began to reign over Israel it was pitched at 
Gibeon. But at the last it was altogether superseded 
by the magnificent temple built by that glorious 
monarch ; and probably the costly materials of it 
were lodged among the sacred treasures of the house 
of the Lord. 

What shall we then say to these things? Did the 
high and lofty One, whose dwelling is not with flesh, 
who resides not in temples made with hands, did he 
stand in the least need of this moveable habitation ? 
Glorious as it was, can we reasonably think it to have 
been a meet apartment for the Deity, or at all ade- 
quate to the inconceivably glorious, immense, and 
eternal Spirit? What a contemptible idea of the true 
God would such a supposition inspire into the mind? 
Away with such a grovelling thought, so unworthy 
of God, and shocking to reason herself! But if we 
suppose that these holy places made with hands 
were figures of heaven, of Christ, and of the church, 
and exhibited as such to the believing Israelites, then 
doubtless we will be reconciled to that very particu- 
lar regard the high God was pleased to shew to the 
worldly sanctuary. Then we shall be able to account 
for that ardent affection the ancient believers con- 
fessed on all occasions to the tabernacles of the Lord 
of hosts. Then it will not appear absurd, that the 
same God who spent but six days in creating the 
universal frame of nature, should spend no less than 
forty in prescribing the little frame of the tabernacle. 
And that these holy places made with hands, were 
figures of heaven, of Christ, and of the church, we 
are now to declare. 

First, then, The tabernacle of Moses was a figure 
of heaven itself, that glorious high throne from the 
beginning. For this interpretation we have the ex- 
press words of an inspired penman of the New Tes^ 



192 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

lament, who speaking of our great High-Priest, 

Elainly declares, that *' he is not entered into the 
oly places made with hands, which are the figures 
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in 
the presence of God for us." Perhaps we should not 
err, though we should think, that as the Jewish high- 
priest went through the outward court, and passed 
through the holy place into the holiest of all ; so Je- 
sus Christ, when he ascended on high, passed through 
the first heaven of clouds, and the second heaven of 
stars, into the third heaven of angels. But though the 
most holy place was by itself alone, the most eminent 
figure of the heavenly sanctuary, this hinders not to 
regard the whole fabric as an emblem of the same 
blissful mansion. Was the tabernacle of Moses di- 
vided into several parts? We know him that said, 
" In my Father's house are many mansions." Was it a 
place of great splendour and magnificence even to 
the eye ? ** Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city 
of the living God." Was it the dwelling of Jehovah, 
where the visible tokens of his presence were seen ? 
In the heavenly mansions he unveils the brightness 
of his glory to all the saints around him. Did priests 
always officiate there ? The saints in light are both 
kings and priests unto God. Were the curtains broi- 
dered with cherubims ^ In the celestial abodes are 
the innumerable company of angels. Was it replen- 
ished with all necessary furniture and provision ? In 
heaven is the true light, and the living bread, fulness 
of joy, and pleasures for evermore. Did the voice 
of praise continually resound in the earthly taberna- 
cle? The eternal regions are for ever filled with 
loud hosannas. Was holiness and legal purity re- 
quired in all who trode the venerable courts of God's 
ancient dwelhng^place ! Nothing that is defiled can 
enter the heavenly Jerusalem. And, lastly. As the 
tabernacle was sprinkled with blood by the Jewish 
high-priest, when he penetrated its innermost re- 
cesses once in the year, with the names of all the 
tribes engraven on his heart. Even so the blood of 
Jesus Christ has consecrated that high and holy 
place, that sinners of the hunian kind might not be 
for ever excluded from dwelling in the beatific pre- 
senc(? of Jehovah, When th^ everlasting gates of 



THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 193 

heaven were by sin barred for ever against us, the 
blood of Christ was the key that opened them again ; 
and the believers in his atoning blood may enter into 
heaven itself with greater boldness than the high- 
priest when he went into the holiest of all, than the 
Levites when they officiated in the holy place, or 
than the people when they approached the outward 
court. 

A second thing which the tabernacle of Moses did 
most undoubtedly represent, was the Person and fu- 
ture incarnation of the Messias himself, who was 
made flesh in the appointed time, and tabernacled 
among us, and who spake of his own body when he 
said to the Jews, " Destroy this temple, and I will 
raise it up in three days." Was the tabernacle a 
work of heavenly architecture ^ The human nature 
of our Lord was prepared by his heavenly Father, 
and curiously wrought, by the operation of the Holy 
Ghost, in the lower parts of the world. Was it the 
habitation of the Deity ? In him divelis all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily. Was it anointed with holy 
oil ? The most holy humanity of our Lord was 
anointed with the Spirit, which God gave not by 
measure unto him. Was it embellished with a va- 
riety of ornaments ? He was adorned with every di- 
vine grace. Was it taken down by the Levites, and 
removed from place to place, till at last it was con- 
veyed to Jerusalem, where it remained in the temple ? 
The human nature of our Lord was dissolved by death, 
reared up again by his resurrection, and, lastly, trans- 
lated into the heavenly temple, which must contain 
him to the time of the restitution of all things. Was 
the tabernacle the place where God met with Israeli 
Here he communed with them ; here they presented 
their gifts, and slew their sacrifices, and even prayed 
with their faces towards it, though at the remotest 
distance. It is easy to see here a lively figure of the 
one Mediator between God and man. In Christ 
alone we have a clear revelation of the divine will; 
and by him must we present our spiritual sacrifices, 
and do in his name whatsoever we do, whether ia 
word or deed. We shall only add, that as there were 
two apartments, the holy place, which made, how- 
ever, but one tabernacle : so in Christ there is a hu- 

R 



194 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

man nature, signified by the holy place, and divine 
nature, represented by the holiest of all ; yet these 
two natures are mysteriously united in one person. 

The third and last thing prefigured by the taber- 
nacle is the^church, that holy society and mystical 
body of Jesus Christ, which, in scripture-style, is the 
house and temple of the living God, in which he 
dwells and walks. We shall enumerate some of the 
most glaring parallels between them. The taberna- 
cle was planned by the wisdom of God himself, who 
condescended to adjust the minutest particulars, as 
the loops, the taches, and the pins, and peremptorily 
required, that all things should be done according to 
the original pattern. And who knows not, that all 
things in the gospel church are planned by the same 
unerring wisdom, and how much the sovereign Ar- 
chitect has testified his displeasure in every age 
against the inventions of men in things pertaining to 
God ? " All that I command you, that shall ye do ; ye 
shall not add, ye shall not diminish." This is all the 
law, this is the prophets, and this is the doctrine of 
Christ and his apostles. The tabernacle was exe- 
cuted by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who 
rested on Bezaleel and Aholiab, to fit them for this 
service, without whom they were no more capable 
of it than other men. It was the same Spirit that de- 
scended on the blessed apostles, the wise master- 
builders of the gospel-church, without which they 
could not been qualified for their honourable work. 
Yea, it is the Holy Ghost, who, by his common gifts, 
makes ordinary ministers workmen that need not be 
ashamed. The tabernacle was composed of very dif- 
ferent materials, as gold, silver, wood, brass, scarlet, 
blue and purple cloth, fine linen, rams' skins, badgers' 
skins, and goats' hair: yet all these different materials, 
combined by the workman's skill, conduced each in 
their kind to the beauty and perfection of the struc- 
ture i and the gold could not say to the brass, nor the 
scarlet to the goats' hair, / have no need of you. So 
in the spiritual house, the materials of which it is 
composed, that is, the believers in Christ Jesus, are 
men of divers nations, different stations in life, Unlike 
natural tempers, unequal gifts and graces, and va- 
rious ministries ; yet being fitly framed together by 



THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 195 

the operation of the Holy Ghost, they grow into an 
holy temple in the Lord. The symmetry of the an- 
cient tabernacle, the nice conjunction of the boards 
by mortises and bars, and of the curtains by loops 
and taches, was not so delightful to the eye of the 
body, as it is pleasant to the eye of the mind, to see 
brethren dwelling together, in unity, perfectly joined 
together in the same mind, and in the same judg- 
ment, and carefully endeavouring to keep the unity 
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The tabernacle 
was covered with many coverings, with fine twined 
linen, with blue, purple, and scarlet, with rams' 
skins dyed red, with goats' hair, and badgers' skins. 
By this means it was rendered extremely close, 
and finely protected from the injuries of the wea- 
ther. May not this recal to our mind the ample 
protection and security of the gospel-church from 
the heat of God's anger, and from all worldly tribu- 
lations, under the rich, the strong, and the broad 
purple covering of Immanuel's righteousness ? For 
'* the Lord is their keeper: the Lord is their shade 
on their right hand : the sun shall not smite them 
by day, nor the moon by night : the Lord will pre- 
serve them from all evil, the Lord will preserve 
their soul." The tabernacle was ornamented with 
gold and silver, and curious embroideries ; and 
though without it was not inelegant, it was, how- 
ever, most magnificent within. Even so, the beauty 
of the gospel-sanctuary does not so much strike the 
eye of sense that looks at the outward appearance, 
as it is obvious to the spiritual sight, that looks at 
unseen things. Would you discern the true glory 
of the spouse of Jesus Christ, look not at her face, 
because the sun hath looked upon her : but the 
King's daughter is all glorious within. The taber- 
nacle was anointed with oil when Moses conse- 
crated it; and the church have an unction from 
the holy One. The tabernacle was divided into 
several partitions. The outward court might de- 
note tl^e church ; the holy place is an emblem of 
the church invisible; and the holiest of all repre- 
sents the church triumphant. in glory, to which none 
are admitted but the royal priesthood. By baptism 
we enter into the first, by regeneration into the 



196 TYPICAL PLACES. B«ok III. 

second, and by death into the third. O death, it is 
thine to pull aside the vail of mortality that inter- 
poses between the holy and the most holy pjlace. 
Happy they who enter by faith, and not by a visible 
profession only, into his sanctuary which he has 
sanctified for evermore. For as there was no pos- 
sibility of coming to the holiest of all, but by passing 
through the holy place; even so it is impossible, if 
we are not now partakers of his holiness, to be 
hereafter sharers of his glory. 



( 197 



III. THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 

00000 

THE second and last material habitation of Jeho- 
vah was the temple of Solomon, which that magnifi- 
cent mqr»arch reared upon the hill Moriah in Jeru- 
salem, the metropolis of his kingdom, to the honour 
of the God of Israel. The plan of it was dictated by 
the Spirit unto his father David, who was prohibited 
from Executing it himself, because of the bloody wars 
he had waged in the course of his life. The work- 
men were partly Israelites, and partly Gentiles of 
Tyre. The materials were the best trees, the most 
precious metals, and large hew^n stones, prepared 
and fitted for one another before they were laid upon 
the foundation, that the noi?e of axes and hammers 
might not be heard as the building rose. — 1 Kings 
vi. 7. The structure itself was sixty cubits long, 
twenty broad, and thirty cubits high, and like the 
tabernacle, consisted of two apartments, the holy, 
and the most holy place, or oracle. You entered this 
temple on the east by a stately porch, which was 
higher than the edifice itself by ninety cubits, and 
may be considered as the steeple. of that sacred pa- 
lace. The length of this porch was equal to the 
breadth of the principal house, and the breadth was 
the half of that length. Here stood the two famous 
brazen pillars, whose names were Jachin and Boaz, 
that is, stability and strength; though they were 
placed there not for the support, but for the orna- 
ment of the house. Two open courts surrounded the 
whole fabric, and side chambers were built round 
about against the wall, a row of narrow w^indows 
that sloped within, illuminated the dome. The 
strength and beauty of God's sanctuary were the 
main things that distinguished this finished piece of 
architecture : for the dimensions were far from being 
-wide, but it was supported by a strong foundation of 
large and costly stones, and ornamented within in the 
most splendid manner, with planks of cedar, plates 
of gold, glittering diamonds, and figures of palm trees 

R 2 



198 TYPICAL PLACES. Book IH. 

and chei'ubirns. This was that holy and beautiful 
house which the Chaldeans were permitted to de- 
molish for the first time, and the Romans for the se- 
cond time, a thousand years after the first foundation 
was laid. Seventeen hundred years have now elapsed 
since the final desolation of this solemn temple, which 
never more shall rise beneath the builder's hand : for 
it is the will of God, that in every place, and not in 
Jerusalem alone, he should be worshipped in spirit 
and in truth. 

As the temple of Solomon was built for the same 
end with the tabernacle of Moses, without all doubt 
the typical meaning of the one and the other was 
also the same. Was the tabernacle a figure of hea- 
ven, of Christ, and of the church ? So also was the 
temple. It was a figure of heaven, the glorious habi- 
tation of God and angels, where the righteous — 
flourish like the palm trees that were carved on the 
walls, — serve him continually like the priests that 
entered into the sanctuary, — and go no more out, 
being established for ever like the pillars that graced 
the porch of that holy place. And as the stones which 
Solomon used were all hewn and prepared before 
they were brought there: so all the stones of the 
celestial house, or the members of the triumphant 
church, are afore prepared unto glory. Now is the 
time when their natural roughness and asperity is 
taken away by the skilful operation of the divine 
Spirit, and the various afflictions of this life, which 
exercise them in this vale of tears, that they may 
rest for ever and ever in the calm regions of ever- 
lasting peace, where no jarring sound is heard, any 
more than there was of axes and hammers in the 
building of the temple. It was also a figure of the 
humanity of the Messiah, who spake of the temple of 
his body, when he said, '* Destroy this temple, and 
in three'days I will raise it up." But, without resum- 
ing what has already been hinted on this head, let us 
only further observe, that the temple was, equally 
as the tabernacle, a figure of that holy society the 
church, which is his body, whether we consider the 
plan, the materials, the workmen, or the building 
Itself. 

The plan of the temple was designed by God no 



THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMOK. 199 

less than that of the tabernacle. Nor could any wis- 
dom inferior to divine, have adjusted the model of 
the spiritual house, which the angels themselves ad- 
mire. The materials were prepared, and the stones 
fitted to one another, before they were compacted 
together, that noisy tools were wholly unnecessary 
as the building arose. An expressive emblem this of 
that peaceful harmony which ought to reign among 
the builders of the church as they carry on this holy 
work, and which would be easily attained, if none 
but polished lively stones, or persons duly quahfied, 
were admitted to become a part of the fabric. The 
workmen were Gentiles of Tyre, as well as Israelites. 
Was not this a prelude of the future vocation of the 
Gentiles, that even the sons of the strangers, and 
those that were afar off, should bear a part in build- 
ing the walls of the gospel church. 

Chiefly let us consider the building itself. It was 
supported by a strong foundation. What should this 
be m the antitype but Jesus Christ the foundation 
which God hath laid in Zion, on which all the apos- 
tles and prophets have built themselves and others 
from the beginning of the world, and to which alone 
the church is indebted for that unshaken stability 
which laughs at all opposition? It was illuminated 
with many windows. For the church is a lightsome 
house, in which the true light shines. It was sur- 
rounded with side chambers. Emblems perhaps of 
the different visible churches which belong to the 
same universal bod\% It was adorned with gold and 
cedar, and its very floor was crusted with the most 
precious metal. This may remind us of the invisible 
glory of the church, where the meanest oflice is ho- 
nourable, and the meanest member excellent. It 
was graved with cherubims and palm trees. This 
may denote the ministry of angels in the church, and 
the eternal verdure of all that are planted in the 
house of the Lord. It was fronted with pillars. 
Though ill, alas ! did they answer their name. 
Where was their stability, where was their 
strength, when the Chaldeans carried them away.^ 
But though the pillars of heaven tremble, the pil- 
lars of the church shall stand, and thus the gracious 
promise runs to every the meanest believer; *• Him 



200 TYPICAL PLACES. Book Hi. 

that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the 
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." 
It was inhabited by the Deity, and a house of prayer 
for all people. So in the church are the visible 
tokens of the divine presence, and holiness becomes 
it for ever. It was replenished with costly furniture. 
And in Christ Jesus the gospel church really pos- 
sesses all the holy utensils of the ancient temple. But 
this must be more largely declared. 



00000 

First, THE ORDINANCE OF THE ARK AND 
MERCY-SEAT. 



WHERE should we begin in enumerating the holy 
utensils and furniture of the tabernacle and temple, 
but with the sacred chest, commonly called the arkj 
sometimes '* the ark of his strength, the ark of the 
covenant, the ark of the testimony, and the ark 
whose name is called by the name of the God of Is- 
rael?" Well may we esteem it the heart of the 
worldly sanctuary. It was the first holy implement 
the inspired artist Bezaleel formed, and resided in 
the most venerable apartment of the holy places 
niade with hands. Its dimensions were small, but its 
materials were rich and magnificent. It was made of 
the best cedar or Shittim-wcod, and overlaid with 
pure gold both .within and without. It was edged 
round with a border or coronet, and covered above 
with a lid of the same precious metal, called the 
mercy -seat. For the convenience of carriage from 
place to place, in the ambulatory state of their com- 
monwealth, there were fastened to its four corners 
so many golden rings, into which they put staves of 
shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, that were never 
taken out, but suffered to remain even after the ark 
rested in the temple, and ceased to be a burden on 
the shoulders of the Levites. Within the splendid 
chest were deposited the two tables of stone that 
were hewed by Moses, after the first were brokenj 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE ARK AND MERCY-SEAT. 20 1 

and inscribed with the finger of God. Before it (as 
is most probable) were laid up the miiaculous bread, 
that was preserved in the pot, and the miraculous 
rod of Aaron, that blossomed and brought forth fruit. 
The first was a standing memorial of the choice re- 
gard of heaven to the whole nation of Israel ; and 
the last was a perpetual sign of his favour to the 
priestly tribe of Levi, and family of Aaron. Above it 
two cherubims of beaten gold, arising out of the two 
ends of the mercy-seat, and looking towards it and 
one another, stretched out their wings. Besides these 
small cherubims, there were two others of gigantic 
stature, which Solomon reared up in the most holy 
place of the temple. But their precise shape is per- 
haps impossible for us, at the distance of time, cer- 
tainly to be defined. This was that venerable utensil 
which it was death to touch or look into, unless by 
the persons appointed for that purpose. The sudden 
fate of Uzziah, and the severe correction of the men 
of Bethshemish, are dreadful instances of its ven- 
geance. When Israel marched through the wilder- 
ness, the ark is said to have gone before, and ex- 
plored a place of rest for the congregation. The 
parted wave of Jordan, and the falling walls of Jeri- 
cho, confessed its power. Once it was a prisoner in a 
Heathen temple ; but, Palestine, short was your vic- 
tory, small was your cause of triumph. Soon were 
the proud enemies dbliged to refund their spoil, and 
Dagon could neither defend himself nor his worship- 
pers from perpetual infamy. Once it blessed the 
house of Obededom. But at last, after many re- 
movals, the splendid temple of Solomon received it 
for several ages; where as is most likely, it perished 
in the common ruin of that holy and beautiful house. 
But the subject of our present inquiry is the mystic 
signification of that sacred instrument, for the recep- 
tion of which both the tabernacle was reared up, and 
the temple built. 

And, first. It was a visible representation of the 
throne of Jehovah, the King of Israel, whose royal 
palace was the temple. The law in the midst of the 
ark, on which he sat, signified the equity of his go- 
vernment, or that justice and judgment are the habi- 
tation of his throne. The cherubims at both ends of 



202 TYPICAL PLACES. Book IIL 

the mercy-i^eat, were doubtless emblematical figures 
of the blessed elect angels that surround his throne, 
and fly swiftly to execute his high commands. The 
gold of which they wtre framed, may signify the pu- 
rity of their essence. Thcnumber two, may perhaps 
denote the perfect harmony and mutual love of the 
innumerable company of angels. I'he position of 
their faces towards each other, may intimate the 
same thing. The adoring attitude of their bodies, 
may represent the profound veneration they have for 
their eternal Sovereign. And their flying posture, 
(for their wings were expanded, and touched one an- 
other,) did surely indicate the expeditious alacrity 
with which they fulfil the heavenly commissions. 

It was also a repository for the tables of the law, 
which were the in'^trument of that solemn covenant 
made betwixt God and that peculiar people, (an em- 
blem of the covenant of Adam and hence it was a 
perpetual pledge of the divine favour and protection 
to their nation, if they fulfilled therr obligations to 
the King of heaven ; and a witness against them, if 
they should prove unfaithful. The gold and cedar 
was a fit emblem of the invaluable worth, the spot- 
less purity, and the perpetual duration of the inclosed 
law. In imitation of this ordinance of the God of Ja- 
cob, the sacred chests of the Heathen seem to have 
been invented, to contain the holy books or mysteries 
of their superstition. 

But especially it may be considered as a figure of 
Jesus Christy the promised Messias, whom all the 
holy things seein to have pointed out with one con- 
sent. There will appear to be no contemptible like- 
ness betwixt him and this most Violy vessel, if we at- 
tend unto the following things; the materials of 
which it was framed ; the depositum which it con- 
tained; its ornan)ents; its uses, its virtues; and, 
lastly, its removals from one place to another, till it 
rested in the temple. 

The materials of the ark were cedar and gold. 
What hinders us from this to think, upon the consti- 
tution of his wonderful Person, whose humanity is 
like the cedar, the fruit of the earth, but not subject 
to corruption, and his divinity, like the gold in the 
ark, embosoms his human nature, ennobles, but is 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE ARK AND ^lERCY-SEAT. 203r 

not blended with it ?— The depositum it contained, 
were the second tables of the law • for the first tables 
were broken before. In Jesus Christ we may see that 
law which he had broke preserved inviolate, and 
perfectly fulfilled in the immaculate obedience of his 
holy life, ^ho says of himself, " I delight to do thy 
will. OGod, thy law is within my heart. "—Its orna- 
ments were the border of gold resembhng a crown ; 
which reminds us of the Messiah's regal dignity; 
and the cherubims of glory, which signified, say some, 
the two natures of that glorious Person who was sig- 
nified by the whole workmanship ; say otft^rs, the 
twofold church of the Jews and Gentiles : but rather 
they were emblems of the angels, these bright and 
glorious creatures, who are supported in their happy 
state by Jesus Christ, as the cherubims were by the 
ark — vvho desire to look into the mystery of man's 
redemption, and pry into it with the most unwearied 
attention, the most sublime satisfaction, the highest 
wonder, and the profoundest adoration, — and who 
are all ministering spirits ascending and descending 
upon the Son of man. — The uses of the ark were va- 
rious and important. Here God was enthroned. So 
God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. 
Here the law was covered from all eyes. So Jesus 
Christ, our true propitiatory, interposes himself be- 
twixt us and that condemning law, which never fails 
to curse and kill all who presume to meddle with it 
but as fulfilled in him ; for when the commandment 
comes without him who fulfilled it, sin will revive, 
and, like the men of Bethshemesh, we will die. — 
Here oracles were given, and here^ said God to Mo- 
ses, '* will I meet with thee, and commune with thee 
from between the cherubims, before the mercy- seat, 
upon the ark of the testimony." So Christ is the 
meeting place of God with man, in whom he deigns 
to reveal his gracious will and pleasure to the fallen 
creature : hence is he called the Word of God^ and 
is said to declare that God the Father who never 
was, and never can be seen by any man. And, lastly, 
here prayers were presented, and offerings were ac- 
cepted: for the most holy Israelite durst not ap- 
proach the presence of Jehovah but as he sat upon 
the mercy- seat sprinkled with blood. Nor could the 



204 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

holiest Christian presume to hope for the acceptance 
of his best duties, were it not for the mercy of God 
through Christ Jesus.— The virtues of the ark such 
as these. It searched out a resting place for Israel 
in the wilderness. So Christ is to his people the 
breaker of their way, who goes before them, gives 
them rest, and prepares for them a place. It opened 
a passage for the ransomed tribes through the river 
Jordan. O Jesus, by thee we safely pass through the 
river Jordan of death, and have abundant entrance 
ministered into the heavenly kingdom, because these 
waters shall not overflow them who have his pre- 
sence with them, according to his promise. It over- 
turned the walls of Jericho when carried round them 
seven days. So shall the walls of Babylon fall, and 
every high thing that exalts itself against God, be 
cast down, by the preaching of his gospel, who is the 
power of God, and wisdom of God. It overthrew 
Dagon of the Philistines in his own temple, maimed 
his brute image, and utterly abolished that monstrous 
idol. So shall he that sits in the temple of God, and 
shews himself that he is God, be destroyed by the 
spirit of his mouth, and brightness of his coming. It 
sanctified the places to which it came, in the opmion 
of Solomon himself, and blessed the house of Obed- 
edom, where it transiently resided. It is the presence 
of Christ that makes us holy and happy, and in him 
we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. — The 
removals of the ark from place to place in the wil- 
derness, and in Canaan, till it rested in the temple, 
shall we say bear some faint resemblance to the 
humbled Redeemer, going about doing good while 
he was upon the earth, until the everlasting doors of 
heaven were opened to receive him ? Or was the 
bearing of the ark about upon the shoulders of the 
Levites, a figure of the ministers of Christ bearing 
his name among the Gentiles, in all the corners of 
the world ? The staves remained always in the ark. 
Perhaps to intimate, that no place or nation is abso- 
lutely secure against his departure from them, who 
have no suitable esteem for his gracious presence 
with them in the dispensation of the eternal world. 

It is long since the Babylonians destroyed this glory 
of Israel; but we have an ark whereunto they have 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN TABLE. 205 

no right to approach who serve the tabernacle. John 
saw it in the heavenly temple. The Old Testament 
ark, like the covenant it confirmed, is vanished away. 
But the New Testament ark, in whom the new co- 
venant stands fast, shall abide for ever in the pre- 
sence of Jehovah. Nor is it death for any to look into 
this ark; for the word of life was looked upon with 
the eyes, and handled with the hands of men. Let it 
be our one and chief desire, that all the days of our 
life we may abide in his house, behold his beauty, 
and inquire in his temple. 



00000 

Secondly, THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN 
TABLE. 



THE table of the shew bread was a principal part 
of the apparatus of the middle court or sanctuary, 
and a piece of very nice and costly workmanship. 
Like the ark, it was made of gold and cedar, orna- 
mented with a golden border and crown, furnished 
with golden rings for carriage, and with golden 
dishes, and other necessary utensils. On this pure 
table were laid twelve loaves, according to the num- 
ber of the tribes. They were made of hne flour, and 
piled up in two rows, crowned with frankincense. 
Thus -they stood continually before the Lord, but 
were renewed every Sabbath morning; and the stale 
bread was to be eaten by none but the priests in the 
holy place. 

As to the meaning of this service, perhaps it was 
a continual thank offering, whereby the Israelites 
testified their gratitude for the fine wheat of Canaan. 
But it seems likewise no contemptible figure of 
Christ Jesus, both personal and mystical; which is to 
be now declared. 

And, first, it seems to represent Christ Jesus him- 
self. It was a golden table, to denote his most invalua- 
ble worth, who is precious to them that believe. It 
was ^ crowned Uble, to signify his royal dignity, and 

i5 



206 TYPICAL PLACES, Book IM: 

the royal dainties wherewith he feeds his people, 
who eat the bread of the mighty. It was a moveable 
table : for the dispensation of his gospel is not con- 
fined to any particular spot of earth, but has been 
frequently removed from one place to another. It 
was a furnished table, furnished both with provisions 
and vessels. In Christ we have all things pertaining 
to life and godliness ; for it hath pleased the Father^ 
that in him all fulness should dwell. 

But let us consider the provision wherewith this 
table was loaded, and we shall see how fitly it quad- 
rates to Jesus Christ It was covered with loaves 

of bread. What bread is to the body, that Christ is 
to the soul, that is — the staff of life. Like bread, he is 
of the most universal use, of the most absolute neces- 
sity, and prepared for our spiritual food by various 
sufferings, as bread-corn is bruised. The loaves were 
fine flour. Jesus Christ is the finest of the wheat, in 
whom there was found no bran of sinful corruption, be- 
ing holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sin- 
ners. They were twelve in number, for every 

tribe a loaf. There is enough in Christ to supply the 
wants of his people, who may say, " Out of his ful- 
ness have we all received"— -They were continual- 
ly present before the Lord. Jesus Christ is the angel 
of his presence, who appears before the Lord conti- 
nually as the representative of Israel. — They were 
crowned with frankincense. This is an emblem of 
the acceptableness of his sacrifice and intercession, 
or of their sweet smelling savour unto God. — They 
were renewed every sabbath morning by the priests. 
For the doctrine of Jesus Christ, or the spiritual pro- 
vision exhibited on the table of the gospel in order 
that it may prove always palatable to the hearers, 
the ministers of the word ought, as the legal priests, 
to renew it every sabbath; not indeed by preaching 
novel doctrines, but by clothing old truths in a new 
dress, or, to use the expression of our Lord, ** Bring- 
hig out of their treasury things new and old." By this 
means the attention will be fed, weariness relieved, 
and appetite increased.—They were eaten by the 
priests in the holy place after they were removed 
from the presence table. So Christ the bread of God 
l)iust be eaten, that is, believed in, t^at we may re- 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN TABLE. 20T 

teive from him both life and strength. The ministers 
of the gospel must feed on that same Christ whom 
they exhibit unto others; and all the saints are that 
royal priesthood, whose privilege it is to eat this 
bread of God. And ,if others are admitted to the 
most holy ordinances, the table of the Lord is con- 
temptible indeed. I shall only add, that unless 
this heaveixly bread had been first presented unto the 
Lord, he would not been presented to men as food to 
the hungry soul. 

Let us now consider the shew-bread as an emblem 
of the church, which is his body, of which it is said, 
IVe being many are one bread. Indeed the number 
of the loaves, corresponding to the number of the 
tribes, did certainly intimate, that they represented 
the Israel of God. Christ is that corn of wheat which 
fell into the ground, and died, that he might not abide 
alone ; and from him believers grow as their parent- 
root. Christ is that golden table that continually sup- 
ports and presents them before the Lord. They were 
crowned with frankincense : for their prayers are di- 
rected to God as incense, and the intercession of Je- 
sus Christ perfumes at once their persons, and works, 
as with ail the powders of the merchant. They were 
disposed in two regular rows. Which may denote 
the comely order of the churches. They were re-, 
newed every week. So one generation of Christians 
succeed another. Or perhaps we may take occasion 
to think how distasteful unto God are stale and 
mouldy professors, who have left their first love, and 
are, like Ephraim, as cakes not turned. They were, 
lastly, to be eaten by the priests. May we be allowed 
thus to allegorize this last particular: when the faith- 
ful have served their generation, and are removed 
from farther usefulness in this world, they are not re- 
jected as useless altogether, but they become the in- 
heritance of Jesus Christ, the true Priest; as the old 
bread was not cast away, but fed upon by the typical 
priesthood in the hoiy place. 



(208) 



Thirdly, THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN 
CANDLESTICK. 

00000 

OVER against the table there was a golden can- 
dlestick set on the north-side, that the sanctuary 
might never be dark. It consisted of a large stalk, 
with six branches, and every branch was in three 
different places adorned with a bowl, like an almond, 
a knop. and a flower. The tongs and snuff-dishes 
were pure gold, as the candlestick itself. At the ex- 
tremities of the stalk and branches were seven 
lamps, which were fed with pure olive oil, and light- 
ed every evening by the priests, who burned incense 
at the same time. 

Was not this an emblem of the true light that 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world ^ Not 
only is Jesus Christ, in many texts of Scripture, re- 
sembled unto the light of the sun. but it is said in one 
place, " Thou art my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord 
will enlighten my darkness." — 2 Sam, xxii. 19. The 
pure beaten gold of this candlestick, may denote the 
spotless holiness, and the invaluable worth of Jesus, 
who was beaten if w^e may so speak, with the ham- 
mer of adversity, and made perfect through suffer- 
ing. The oil that nourished the lamps, is an emblem 
of the Koly Ghost, that anointed him to preach glad 
tidings to the meek. The number of the lamps, which 
was seven, imports the perfection of his light. The 
sanctuary where they shone, is the church ; and the 
priests that trimmed them, are the ministers of the 
grtspel, whose office it is to elucidate the mystery of 
Christ. The light which was shed all around from 
this candlestick, may represent the light of the 
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus, 
which shines into the hearts of all the royal priest- 
hood, or the light of the scriptures, which are the 
rays of Jesus Christ, and to which we do well to take 
heed, as to a light that shineth in a dark place. 

That the golden candlestick was also a figure of 
the church, will appear ver\^ probable, when we con- 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 209 

sider, that Zacharias, an Old Testament prophet, 
saw, in the visions of God, as her emblem, a golden 
candlestick, supplied with golden oil from two olive 
trees; and John, a New Testament apostle, when he 
was in the Spirit, beheld our great High- Priest in 
sacerdotal robes, walking in the midst of the seven 
golden candlesticks, which were the seven Asian 
churches. But l^t us, for further proof, observe the 
likeness of this sacred utensil to the whole and every 
particular church. 

We shall, first, consider the candlestick itself. — 
Its use was to receive the materials of the light ; 
and then to spread it abroad. Even so the church 
receives the truth in the first place, and then holds 
it forth by purity of doctrine, and sanctity of life. 

Its matter was pure and beaten gold. The church 
may be a lamb despised in the thoughts of worldly 
men, and esteemed as an earthen pitcher; yet in 
the eyes of the Lord she is comparable to fine gold. 
O how the gold becomes dim in the presence of t^aith 
and holiness ? She is pure gold, being purged from 
the dross of reigning corruption by the blood, by the 
Spirit, and by the word of Christ. She is beaten 
gold, being partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. 
By these means she is a^vessel made meet tor the 
Master's use. For shape', it was divided into six 
branches, unit:ed by one common stalk. This signi- 
fies the coalition of all true churches and sound be- 
lievers into one great society, which is founded upop 
their common relation to Jesus Christ, the centre 
of the union. The ornaments of almonds, knops, and 
flowers, which decorated all the branches, may de- 
note the various gifts and graces with which every 
church should be adorned, that she may with greater 
dignity hold forth the word of life. The tongs and 
snuff dishes were not more necessary appendages 
to the golden candlestick, than church-censures, 
and brotherly admonitions, are to every society of 
Christians. By means of these instruments the lamps 
burned clear, and the floor of the holy place was 
not suUied. So the discipline of the church is an ex- 
cellent mean to preserve the lamp of gospel-light 
from defilement, by the superfluity of naughtiness. 
The oil burning in the seven lamps of the candle- 

s 2 



210 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

Stick, is an emblem of the Holy Ghost in his various 
gifts who resides in the church, is compared unto 
oil and unto fire, and of whom the apostle John 
speaks in this enigmatical manner, when he saw the 
visions of the Almighty, *' And there were seven 
lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are 
the seven Spirits of God." So much for the candle- 
stick itself. 

Let us now glance at the ministry of the priests 
about this holy vessel. They were to supply it with 
oil, to trim the lamps, and light them every evening, 
and to burn incense at the same time. Might not 
this signify the watchful care of the Minister of the 
sanctuary and true tabernacle, who walks in the 
midst of the seven golden candlesticks, imparts unto 
them all necessary supplies of the heavenly unction, 
quenches not the smoking flax, but strengthens the 
things that remain, and are ready to die ; while at 
the same time he oflfers unto God the grateful in- 
cense of his prevalent intercession in their behalf ? 
And may it not further adumbrate the dutv and 
office of all the ministers of the gospel, who, in the 
evening of the world, are to light the lamp ordain- 
ed for God's Anointed ? ** They shall teach Jacob 
thy judgments, O Lord, and Israel thy law : they 
shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt-offer- 
ings upon thine altar." It is their province, while 
they direct unto God the incense of fervent prayer, 
to make their lamps burn clear, by supplj^ing them 
with the oil of pure doctrine, and trimming them 
with the tongs ot wholesome discipline, and salutary 
admonition. " For Zion's sake let them not hold 
their peace, and for Jerusalem's sake, let them 
not rest, till the righteousness thereof go forth as 
brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that 
burneth." 



(211) 



Fourthly, THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN 
ALTAR. 

OOQOO 

IN the inner part of the sanctuary, there stood a 
four square altar of Shittim-wood, overlaid with gold. 
It was encompassed with a golden crown, furnished 
with golden rings for carriage, like the ark and ta- 
ble of shrew- bread, and graced with four golden 
horns at its four corners. To this secret altar none 
but the priests were to approach ; not to offer pro- 
pitiatory sacrifices, as upon the altar of burnt- offer- 
ing, but to burn incense of sweet spices morning and 
evening before the Lord. The confection of this sa- 
cred perfume is minutely prescribed, with a strict 
prohibition of imitating it for any other use. It was 
a figure of the intercession of the great High-Priest 
before the throne, or the altar of burnt-offering was 
a figure of his satisfactory oblation upon the earth. 
Let us first attend unto the altar, and next unto the 
incense. 

The altar itself was, first, a golden crowned altar ; 
which signifies the glorious dignity of the royal in- 
tercessor, who is a Priest upon his throne, and is set 
down on the right hand of the heavenly Majesty. — 
It was a square altar, equally respecting the four 
comers of the world ; to denote how accessible he 
is to all the ends of the earth. — It was a moveable 
altar, capable of being transported wherever the 
church of Israel went : An emblem of his perpetual 
presence in all places where his name is recorded, 
or where his people are afflicted. A jail, an isle of 
Patmos, a lion's den, a fish's belly, a fiery furnace, 
are all alike to him, who never leaves, never for- 
sakes his chosen and his called. — It was a hidden 
altar, to which none approached except the sons of 
Levi. To know Christ as their interceding priest, 
is the distinguished privilege of all the royal priest- 
hood. These only see him by faith, whom the world 
seeth no more. But as the' way to the golden altar 
of incense was to pass by the brazen altar of burnt- 



212 TYPICAL PLACES. Book lil. 

offering; so none can come to Jesus, as ever living 
to make intercession for them, who come not to him 
as dying once to atone for their guilt, and put away 
their sin by the sacrifice of himself. — It was a horned 
altar. And what should these four hoins at its four 
corners portend, but the strength and prevalence of 
his intercession whom the Father heareth always, and 
"who is able to save unto the uttermost all who come 
unto God by him from the four winds of heaven ? — 
It was an altar stained with blood: for though no 
sacrifices for expiation v/ere offered upon it, yet 
Aaron was commanded to tip its horns every year 
•with the blood of atonements. 1-he blood of Jesus 
Christ the righteous, is the strength of his advocacy. 
This blood presented for ever before the throne of 
God, enforces all his suits with louder cries, than 
ever the blood of Abel sent from the ground, im- 
ploring vengeance on the first murderer. 

From the aitai\ let us come to the incense burned 
upon it. It represents both the merits of Jesus Christ, 
and the prayers of all saints. 

The merics of Jesus Christ is that incense in which 
the prayers, and tears, and works of all the saints 
are clad, and wherein they ascend, like Manoah's 
angel, before the presence of Jehovah. — That in- 
cense %vas composed of sweet spices, that slied a 
rich perfume ; but not so grateful to men, as the 
sweet-smelling sacrifices of Christ w^as savoury unto 
God. — That incense was burned in the sanctuary, 
■while the people weve praying without. The ap- 
pearing of our High-Priest in the heavenly sanctuary 
with the sweet odour of his merits, by no means su- 
persedes the prayers of saints on. earth. For these 
things will God be^ not only solicited by the inter- 
cession of his Son, but enquired of by the house of 
■Israel^ that he maij do it for them. — That incense 
■was continually burned before the Lord, and was 
a perpetual incense throughout their generations. 
The intercession of Jesus Christ is everlasting, be- 
cause he ever liveth. Never, never shall it be dis- 
continued, till all its ends are fully reached, and the 
elect vessel be prayed home to glory. — That incense 
■was noito be counterfeited, or imitated for any other 
purpose. Detested by the impiety of that harlot 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE GOLDEN ALTAR. 213 

church, who confide in the merits of any saint, liv- 
ing or dead, ascribing on whatsoever pretence, the 
Mediator's glory to another. But the time approaches 
when this counterfeit incense, the commodity of 
Babylon, shall no more be bought by the merchants 
of the earth. 

The prayers of saints are also said to be directed 
as incense before the Lord, and are resembled to 
odours preserved in vials of gold, by a New Testa- 
ment writer. Prayer is that incense, which, accord- 
ing to Malachi's prediction, shall be offered to the 
name of the Lord in every place. Was the holy in- 
cense compounded of various sweet spices ? The 
graces of the Holy Ghost are the precious ingredients 
in the effectual prayer of the righteous. Some of them 
were beaten very small. Perhaps to intimate that 
brokenness of heart, and contrition of spirit, which 
the high and lofty One requires in the worshippers 
at his footstool. The fire that burned the incense, 
may denote the fervency of spirit required in accep- 
table worship. But take heed of the sparks of your 
own kindling, and lift up holy hands without wrath : 
for incense must not be kindled with fire from the 
kitchen, but the altar. Was the incense burned 
morning and evening continually ? And can we rea- 
sonably think the incense of prayer and praise should 
be less frequently addressed to the God that dwells 
in the heavens? Jesus Christ is the altar; Jesus 
Christ is the Priest who stands with his golden cen- 
ser ; by him your incense of prayer, and your in- 
cense of praise, shall go up for a memorial before 
God, and meet with gracious acceptance. Without 
him even incense is an abomination unto God, and 
the most solemn duties are a smoke in his nostrils, 
and a fire that burnetii all the day. 



(214) 



l^iFTHLr, THE ORDINANCE OF THE BRAZEN 
ALTAR. 



■00000- 



LET us next consider the altar of burnt-offering, 
'which was a chief part of the holy furniture both of 
the tabernacle and temple. Its materials were brass 
and cedar- wood, its shape four square, its station 
was in the outward court. It protected criminals 
that fled unto it, sanctified gifts, and alimented the 
priests. It was ornamented with four horns of brass 
flourishing from its corners, and upon it the sacred 
iire was kept perpetually alive. The ceremonies of 
its consecration lasted for seven days, and it is called 
by God an altar most holy, that should impart a 
legal holiness to every thing that touched it. In ordi- 
nary cases it was not lawful to offer sacrifices upoa 
any other altar but this alone. 

That Jesus Christ is the antitype of this altar, the 
apostle to the Hebrews permits us not to doubt ; 
for, speaking of him, he says, ** We have an altar, 
Hvhereof they have no right to eat who serve the 
tabernacle.''' He says not altai^s^ as if they were 
many, but an altavy speaking of one, and this altar 
is Christ. As the intercession of Jesus Chiist was 
typified by the golden altar of incense ; so the altar 
of b'lrnt-offerings represented both his satisfaction 
in general, and his Godhead in particular. Let us 
begin with the first. 

It represented the person of our Redeemer, as 
the propitiation for our sins. It was a brazen altar. 
Was it not the same glorious Person whom Ezekiel 
saw, like a man of brass, with a line of flax in his 
hand to measure the temple, and w^hose feet are de« 
scribed in the visions of John, like fine brass, as if 
they burned in a furnace ? Brass is a cheap and com- 
mon metal. When by himself he purged our sins, 
he shone not with golden lustre ; for his visage was 
marred more than any man's, and his form than the 
sons of men. Brass is a strong metal, and fit to en- 
dure the fire. Our strength was not the strength of 



THE ORBINANCE OF THE BRAZEN ALTAR.. 215 

Stones, our flesh was not of brass, to dwell with de- 
vouring fire, to abide with everlasting burnings: but 
Christ was the mighty One, who felt the power of 
God's anger, and was not devoured by the fiery in- 
dignation — It was a horned altar This signifies thfe. 
strength of his atonement both to satisfy the justice 
of God, and pacify the conscience of men. — It was a 
four square altar: An emblem of his perpetual sta- 
bility, who is the same to day, yesterday, and for 
ever.— It was a public altar. For the death of Christ 
was to be a transaction of the most pubhc kind.—* 
It was a burning altar, on which the fire never went 
out. The Holy Ghost is that eternal Spirit of judg- 
ment and of burning, through whom he offered up 
himself unto God, and who dwells for ever in the; 
Son. With this holy fire the great High-Priest in- 
flamed his legal sacrifice of atonement, and with this 
holy fire the royal priesthood ought to kindle their 
moral sacrifice 'df praise, which they offer by him 
continually. It was an only altar, and, by the law of 
Moses, admitted not any rival. So Jesus Christ is 
the one Mediator between God and man. To mul- 
tiply mediators is no less condemned by the New 
Testament, than to multiply altars by the Old. It 
was an altar most holy, that sanctified all gifts. 
Whether we present unto God the meat-offering of 
alms, the drink-offering of tears, the peace-offering 
of thanksgiving, the heave -offering of prayer, or the 
whole burnt-offering of body and soul, by him alone 
they are sanctified and accepted, as the altar sanc» 
tified the gift. It was an altar that protected crimi- 
nals who fled unto it; though for some crimes, 
they were to be dragged from it to suffer condign 
punishment. In Jesus Christ the guilty sinner finds 
a refuge from legal condemnation; nor can they 
fail of making peace with him, who by faith take 
hold of his strength, be their crimes ever so atro- 
cious. It was an altar that nourished the Levitical 
priesthood who served at it, and were partakers 
with it. Even so the happy perso4is who are made 
priests unto God, and partakers of Christ, receive 
from him, not a natural, but a spiritual and eternal 
life '* For he that eateth me/^ himself declares, 
*' shall live bv me.'* 



216 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

But in a particular manner his Deity seems fit to 
be called the altar on which he offered his humanity: 
for he was his own altar no less than ours. It was 
not the wooden cross on which he died, that served 
him for an altar. Far less can the material table on 
which the holy memorials are exhibited in the sa- 
crament of the supper, deserve any such glorious 
epithet. Hear what himself says about the altar and 
the gift, ** Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, 
ihe gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?" Will 
any dare to say, that the wooden cross was greater 
than the soul and body of the Redeemer who ex- 
pired on it ? or that the table of the supper is greater 
than the consecrated symbols of his body and blood? 
If it be impossible to find any thing greater than the 
humanity of the Lord and Saviour except his own 
divinity, his own divinity and nothing else, must be 
the altar. Did the alrar support the gift or victim 
while it wa^ burning upon it ? It was the Godhead 
of Christ that supported the manhood from sinking 
under these direful sufferings he patiently endured. 
Did the altar sanctify the gifts that touched it ? It 
was the Deity of Christ that sanctified the gift of his 
humanity, and imparted a dignity and value to the 
sacrifice of his body and soul. The sins of many are 
fully expiated by the sufferings of one, because he 
is (iod, and there is none else ; besides him there is 
no Saviour. 

Blessed be God for such an High-Priest, such a 
temple, such a sacri'fice, such an altar, of burnt-of- 
fering and incense. We have an altar, not only in 
the midst of the land of Canaan, but in the midst of 
the land of Egypt, to which sons of the strangers 
may bring their sacrifices. We have an altar which 
God will never cast off, a sanctuary which he will 
iiever'abhor. The great atoning sacrifice is already 
offered up ; what remains for us but to render unto 
a gracious God the calves, not of the stall, but of the 
Jlps, and the sacrifice of praise continually. 



2X7) 



Sixthly, THE ORDINANCE OF THE BRAZEN 
LAYER. 



THE clivers washings enjoined in the law of Moses, 
were no doubt a very si gniti cant branch of that ritual 
ceconomy : for not onlj^ did the Heathen nations 
adopt this custom in their false worship of imaginary 
gods ; but a shadow of it is still retained in the Chris- 
tian baptism, the initiating ordinance of the church. 
The daily illustration of the Levitical priesthood we 
shall presently glance at. 

At the entrance of the tabernacle of the congre- 
gation, before you came to the brazen altar, was set, 
by the appointment of the Lord, a pure vessel^ or 
laver of polished brass. The materials of it were 
furnished by some religious woman, who compli- 
mented their looking glasses for this purpose, con« 
secrating these instruments perhaps of vanity to the 
sacred use of adorning the worship of the time God»^ 
Though the shape of this vessel is not minutely de- 
scribed by Moses, it was certainly so contrived, as 
the water it contained might be emptied by vents 
or pipes : for the priests were ordered, on pain of 
death, to wash their hands and feet at this laver 
when they went into the tabernacle, or approached^ 
unto the altar. At first this washing pot was proba- 
bly of small size ; but when Solomon built his mag- 
niticent temple, he made also a laver of large di- 
mensions, which, on account of the huge quantity 
of water it was capable to hold, was called a molten 
sea, and set it on a base of twelve oxen of brass, not 
without the direction of Heaven, as w-e may well 
presume. 

Did the pure and holy God intend by this law only 
to require from his worshippers the putting away 
the filth of the flesh, which might be done with ma- 
terial water, and by such as had neither their hearts 
clean, nor their hands pure ? Is washing the body 
with the purest water, an adequate preparation for 

T ■ 



218 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III . 

coming into the presence of that God, in whose sight 
the heavens are not clean ? Far be it from us to har- 
bour so foolish a thought. The purification of the 
soul from spiritual pollution, was the thing intended 
by this carnal ordhiance. The laver is Jesus Christ 
himself, who cleanses all the royal priesthood from 
the foul contagion of sin, by the word which he 
speaks unto them, by the Spirit which he sheds upon 
them, and by the blood he poured out for them. 
Was the laver a pure and cleanly vessel ? This may 
denote the innocence and spotless purity of the glo- 
rious Immanuel, together with his fitness to preserve 
all that are in him holy and unblameable Was it a 
large and capacious vessel, and therefore styled a 
sea ? 1 his may remind us of that vast and inex- 
haustible fulness, which ever dwells in the New 
Testament laver, by which he is able to sprinkle 
many nations, and wash away the crimes of all who 
come unto God by him. Was it an open vessel, that 
stood in the most public situation ? A prophet styles 
the blessed Redeemer, *' a fountain opened in the 
house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
for sin and for uncleanness." Was it a consecrated 
vessel ? for Moses anointed the laver and his foot 
with the hply anointing oil. Christ Jesus was conse- 
crated for ever more to his saving ofhce, and anointed 
with the Holy Ghost in the most ample measure. 
Was it supported by twelve oxen in th-e temple of 
Solomon .^ 1 hese brazen figures, that looked to all 
the winds of heaven, may not absurdly be viewed as 
emblems of the twelve apostles, who bore Christ's 
name to the Gentiles, who poured the doctrine of 
.salvation in all the quarters of the world. For not 
only does the number of the oxen correspond to the 
number of t!ie apostles of the I^amb ; but the ser- 
vants of Christ are in other passages held forth 
under the emblem of these robust, laborious, and 
useful animals. 

But the use which the priests under the law were 
commanded to make < f this vessel on all occasions, 
nnder the severest penalty, is the most remarkable 
circumstance we are to attend unto. They were to 
vfash their hands and feet with the water of this 
vessel when they entered the tabernacle, on pain of 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE ANOINTING OIL. 210 

death. These priests are figures not only of all office- 
bearers in the church, who ought to be pure and 
holy, but of all the holy nation of Christians, who 
having a great High-Priest over the liouse of God, 
ought to draw near with true hearts, and in the full 
assurance of faith, having their hearts sprmkled 
from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed 
with pure water. It is true, they are washed and 
justified already, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
by the Spirit of o ir God ; yet still they need to wash 
their hands and feet. The sins of daily walk, demand 
fresh application to the laver of his atoning blood, 
even from the hohest saints on earth. Faith is the 
hand by which this purifying water is applied to the 
conscience. Would we approach to God in holy 
duties ? would we ascend the hill of the Lord, and 
stand in his holy place ? then in a special manner, 
must we lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of 
naughtiness! resolving with the sweet singer of 
Israel. *' I will wash mine hands in innocency, and 
so will I compass thine altar, O Lord." But whoever 
they be that prefer the mire of their sin to the laver 
of his blood, think to wash away their stains with 
the nitre and soap of their own righteousness, they 
shall die before the Lord, be excluded from his 
beatific presence, and become an abhorring unto all 
flesh for evermore. 



00000 

Sfventhlt, TFIE ordinance OF THE ANOINT- 
ING OIL. 



IN Jesus Christ we have alFO the antitype of the 
legal unctions, no less than of the divers washings 
and sacrifices, which is to be declared. Tiie Jewish 
law-giver is commanded, in a very particular man- 
ner, to take unto him of the principal spices, five 
hundred shekels of pure myrrh,--half as much of 
sweet cinnamon,— five hundred shekels of cassia,— 



220 TYPICAL PLACES, Book III 

balf as much of sweet calamus. These precious in- 
gredients were to be compounded by the apothe- 
cary's art in a hin of ohve oil. The use of this holy 
oil was to anoint the tabernacle, and its furniture, 
and Aaron with his sons. But it was strictly forbid- 
den to apply it to any other use» to put it upon any 
stranger, or to make any thing like it» after the com- 
position of it. " This," said God to the Israelites, 
" shall be a holy anointing oil tome throughout your 
generations." Let us come to the concealed mystery 
of this ordinance. 

Then was this type fulfilled, when the Lord's 
Anointed was endued with the gifts and graces of the 
Holy Ghost, which God gave not by measure unto 
him. Hear what himself declares by the mouth of 
the prophet Isaiah, *' The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me, because he hath anointed me." And therefore 
areihe disciples of Christ styled CZ/m^faws, because 
it is supposed they have also an unction from the 
holy One. 

Snrely it is not without sufficient reasons, that 
anointing with oil» and receiving the gift of the Holy 
Ghost, are phrases of the same import in the lan- 
guage of inspiration If oil is of a healing nature, 
and fit to appease the anguish of rankled wounds; 
the Spirit of God is that molifying ointment, by 
which the wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores, 
occasioned by the fall, are gradually healed, until at 
last the cure is so completely wrought, that not a 
scar remains. If oil is of a beautifying quality, and 
makes the human face to shine; by the benign 
agency of the sanctifying Spirit, our souls are made 
as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and are 
presented at last in presence of his glory, without 
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. If oil is savoury 
to the taste, imparting to o^her esculents an agreea- 
ble flavour, without the Spirit, what is the word itself 
bu a dry morsel ? but when he sheds his kindly in- 
fluences, then do we find the word and eat it. it is 
to us the joy and rejoicing of our heart. If oil is of an 
exhilarating virtue, greatly refreshing the animal 
spirits of them who are anointed ; this puts us in 
mind of the reviving operations of the Comforter, 
who is the Holy Ghost, the true oil of gladness. 



THE ORDINANCE OF THE ANOINTING OIL. 2:Jl 

whose fruit is joy and peace. In the same manner 
we might apply the strengthening, softening, pre- 
serving, Insinuating properties of this staple Com- 
modity of Canaan, to the like operations of the di- 
vine Spirit. 

Biit let us rather reflect upon the special qualities 
of the holy anointing oil, which Moses made accord- 
ing to the divine dispensatory. It was compounded 
of various costly ingredients ; to represent perhaps, 
the great variety oif heavenly gifts and graces, which 
are conferred by the Spirit of the Lord, and the di- 
versities of his operations. — It shed a most delight- 
ful perfume, even to a proverb, when poured on the 
head of Aaron. Of a greater than he it is said, " All 
thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia:'* 
and again, ** Because of the savour of thy good oint- 
ments, therefore do the virgins love thee." — The 
quantity which Moses made was considerably large, 
and sufficient to anoint both the priests, the taberna- 
cle, and all its sacred vessels. May not this faintly 
adumbrate the fulness of the Spirit, by which he is 
able, not only to anoint our great High- Priest, but 
likew^ise all the sanctified vessels, that are made 
meet for the Master's use ? It was unlawful to make 
any thing like it ; and the Jews affirm, with great 
probability, that it was never but once prepared ; 
though they fabulously add, that it wasted not by 
use for many general ions. This majr denote how 
displeasing it is to God to counterfeit his holy Spirit; 
and as we are to try the spirits, whether they be of 
God, so in all generations there is but one Spirit, 
as there is one body mystical, and one hope of our 
calling.— The prohibition of putting any of it on a 
stranger, may signify, that the spiritual unction is 
the peculiar privilege of saints, which, to use the 
expression of our Lord, the loorld cannot receive. 
And lastly, As this anointing oil did sanctify the per- 
sons and things to which it was applied, consecrated 
them for ever to the service of God, and entitled them 
to his protection. So the happy souls who have re- 
ceived, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit 
who is of God, are sanctified in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, and by the Spiritof our God ; are sealed 
unto the dav of redemption ; and the unction they 

T 2 



222 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

have received, abideth in them. Because of this 
anointing their yokes shall be destroyed. Touch not 
mine anointed, ye enemies of their mlvation^ will the 
Lord say, and do no harm to my peculiar fieofile. 
Lei others drink wine in bowls, and anoint ihem- 
selves with the chief ointments; but give us, O 
Lord, this holy oil for evermore. 



(223) 



IV. THE LAND OF Cx\NAAN. 

00000 

THE land that flowed with milk and honey, de* 
serves a particular consideration among the other 
shadows of good things to come. God promised to 
the fatheis of the holy nation, ** I will give you the 
land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance, when 
they were but a few men in number, yea, very few, 
and strangers irx it." This promise he performed 
to their posterity at the appointed time, when, un- 
der the conduct of Joshua, he drove out the Heathen, 
and planted them. But v^as this all which God pro- 
\ided for his people ! Was the promise of an earthly 
inheritance the blissfuHiope that supported the be- 
lieving patriarchs in the few and evil days of their 
pilgrimage ? Was there no other rest remaining for 
the people of God, but that which Joshua gave them? 
Then indeed ihey had been, upon the whole, con- 
siderable losers by their religion, and God would 
been ashamed to be called their God. It is true the 
earthly Canaan was a delicious country, a land of 
brooks of water, of fountains and deeps, that sprang 
out of the valleys and hills ; — a land where they did 
eat butter of kine. and milk of sheep, fat of lambs, 
and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats with the 
fat of kidneys of wheat, they did drink the pure 
blood of the grape ; — a land whose rich soil produced 
w hatever could fill the cup of joy, or load the board 
of plenty. But alas! what cruel mockery had it been 
to propose no sublimer enjoyments than these to the 
lovers of his blessed name ? Are such things an ade- 
cj^uate portion to the immortal spirit in man ^ Be- 
sides, the patriarchs themselves sojourned in the 
land of promise as in a strange country, and had not 
so much as a grave to call their own, tdl bought with 
money. And their posterity, the people of his ho- 
liness, possessed it but a little time. What was the 
language of all this } Did it not proclaim, in loudest 
accents both to the patriarchs and their seed, *' Arise 
ye and depart; for this is not your final rest } I have 



:^24 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

provided for you, O my people, a better heavenly 
country, of which this pleasant land is bat the pledge 
and shadow." Beyond all doubt the godly patri- 
archs regarded the promised land in this amiable 
light; and it is hard to imagine how Moses, that wise 
and great law-giver, could been so passionately de- 
sirous to see, before he died, that good land beyond 
Jordan, if he had not considered it as a pledge bf 
God*s eternal rest. Let us add to all this the sublime 
encomiums that are every where bestowed upon 
Canaan, in Moses and the prophets. Surely there 
was nothing about that little spot of earth to entitle 
it to such high eulogiums, as, *' the glory of all lands, 
the pleasant land, and, thy land, O Immanuel." But 
when we view it as a type of the heavenly inheri- 
tance, the propriety of these grand epithets immedi- 
ately discovers itself. Let us see where the resem- 
blance lies. 

Canaan was a land originally possessed by other 
nations, whom the Lord drove out for their wicked- 
ness. It is revealed in the scriptures, that the celes- 
tial mansions were first inhabited by these once 
pure, but now aposiate spirits, who, for rebellion 
against their eternal Sovereign, were driven out 
from God and bliss, and their places in heaven shall 
know them again no more. 

It was a land of amazing fertility. And such is 
the tender condescension of the heavenly Father, as 
to describe, by earthly similitudes, that fulness of 
joy in his beatific presence, and all the rich variety 
of spiritual aud eternal blessings. The plenty of Ca- 
naan, where ihey did eat bread without scarceness, 
was an emblem of the fatness of God's house. In 
heaven they shall not want any good thing that can be 
perfective of their natures, or conducive to their true 
felicity. ** There" to use the prophetic style, *• the 
mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills 
shall flow with milk." They shall not hunger nor 
thirst; for the tree of life forever hangs out his gold- 
en fruit, and the water of life forever rolls its silver 
stream. 

It was a promised land, and promised long before 
the possession was actually taken, to the father of 
their nation, four hundred and thirty years before 



THE LAND OF CANAAN. 225 

J/iC law. Even so, eternal life was promised to Christ, 
the everlasting Father, not only untecedent to the 
good works or his seed, but before the world: and 
though the Lord is not slack concerning his promise ; 
yet we have need of patience, even though we have 
clone the will of God, that we may inherit the pro- 
mises. 

It was a land which their own righteousness could 
not merit, and which their own sword could not pro- 
cure. Their induction into it is, in the strongest 
terms, ascribed to the sovereign grace and out 
stretched arm of Gotl, who shewed to his people the 
power of his works, that he might give them the 
heritage of the Heathen. Should we vainly arrogate 
unto ourselves the honour of deserving, by our best 
■works, our access to the heavenly inheritance, there 
is one that condemns us, even Moses in whom we 
trust. " Speak not thou in heart," says that great 
law-giver to his people, " for my righteousness the 
Lord haih brought me in to possess this land. Not 
for thy righteousness, or the uprightness of thine 
heart, dost thou go to possess it ; for thou art a stiff 
necked people." Can any be so absurd as to affirm, 
that though the earthly inheritance could not, yet 
the heavenly inheritance may be merited by works 
of righteousness that we have done ? 

It was a land to which they went through many 
hardships and difficulties, through floods, and wilder- 
nesses, and legions of opposing foes. They had both 
real and imaginary discouragements to grapple with. 
Kven so the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and 
through much tribulation we must enter into it, 
though it be a purchased possession, and a promised 
inheritance. But as neither Sihon king of the Amor- 
ites, nor Og king of Bashan, nor the formidable 
f;iants the sons of Anak, could hinder the Israelites 
from their promised rest ; so neither shall the power 
of the enemy, however great and dreadful, be able 
to retard the meanest saint, who takes unto him the 
whole armour of God. and with determined ardour 
flights the good fight of faith, and lavs hold on eternal 
life. 

It was a land which many despised, and through 
imbelief they came short of the promise, and their 



226 TYPICAL PLACES. Book IIL 

carcases fell in the wilderness. And many alas ! pre- 
fer the present pleasures of sin, to all the ravishing 
prospects of eternity. Instead of seeking this better 
country all the days of iheir life, it is the land which 
they abhor. 

It was a land which the Israelites obtained not till 
Moses Avas dead. None are brought to heaven till 
they be dead to the law by the body of Christ. He 
is the true Joshua, or the Captain of salvation, who 
brings many sons unto glory, and conducts them 
through the Jordan of death, into the inheritance in- 
corruptible, undeliled, and that fadeth not away. 



C 227 ) 



T. THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM, AND THE 
HOLY HILL OF ZION. 

BLT^T we must not forget thee, O Jerusalem, thou 
famed metropolis of Judea, nor that adjacent hill of 
Zion. the royal residence of David, where the tem- 
ple also stood. Such glorious things have been spoken 
of this city and mountain, as can by no means agree to 
them, when viewed only in the letter. It is long, very 
long, since Zion was ploughed as a field, since the pala- 
ces of Jerusalem have been levelled with the ground: 
** Go ye up upon her walls," said God to the vic- 
torious Roman army. '* and take away her battle- 
ments : for they are not the Lords." But still there 
is a spiritual Zion, on which the Lamb stands with 
his redeemed tribes ; still there is a heavenly Jeru- 
salem, to which the general assembly and church 
of the first-born are said to come. What should this 
spiritual Zion and heavenly Jerusalem be but the 
militant and triumphant church of Christ of which 
the earthly ZAon and the worldly Jerusalem, were 
the shadow and type ? The old mount Zion was 
equally with mount Sinai, a mount that might be 
touched, being a corporeal substance ; and the old 
Jerusalem was a city that might be razed to its foun- 
dations : but the true Zion is a spiritual thing, which 
cannot be touched: and the new Jerusalem is a city 
that hath foundations, and never can be moved. 

There were hills more eminent than Zion, and 
towns more potent than Jerusalem ; yet no moun- 
tain or city makes so distinguished a figure in the 
sacred page. It was not the natural elegance of Zion 
and Jerusalem, nor the fortified situation of these 
places, that could entitle them to such high eulo- 
giums as are every where bestowed upon them by 
the inspired penmen. It is true indeed, the beautiful 
situation of Mount Zion, and the compact form of 
Jerusalem, which was comely to a proverb, deserved 
their due praises: and their strength both of nature 
and art, was far from being despicable. It may be 



228 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III» 

also affirmed, that the Holy Ghost intended a faint 
representation of the invincible strength, and spiri- 
tual beauty of the church, in the strength and 
beauty of these holy places. But the extraordinary 
regard which the great Jehovah was pleased to 
testify towards his holy hill of Zion, and his beloved 
city of Jerusalem, is the chief thing which exalted 
that little hill above the great mountains of the world, 
and ennobled that metropolis above all other cities, 
however populous or magnificent. Why do ye leap, 
ye high hills ? why do ye exult against the little hill 
of Zion, as if you were superior to it ? This is the 
hill which God desires to dwell in : the Loi'd shall 
dwell in it for ever. This makes it a high hill, a high 
hill as the hill of Bashan; this renders it the perfec- 
tion of beauty, and the joy of the whole earth. Ex- 
actly so, it is the distinguishing favour, and sovereign 
love of God, bestowed upon liis church, that enno- 
bles it beyond all other societies, however inferior 
to them in the beauty of earthly splendour, and 
worldly dominion. Let us see then what are the 
marks of the divine regard to these sacred places, 
which rendered them lit emblems of the realcliurch 
in all ages. 

They were places where God set his king, and the 
thrones of the house of David. I'hat illustrious mo- 
narch who founded the long line of the Jewish kings, 
having rescued Jerusalem and Zion from the Jebu- 
sitts by force of arms, he fortified them, and made 
them the places of his royal residence. The spiritual 
Zion is the city of the great King, that is, of Jesus 
Christ, who won it out of the hands of idolatrous 
Gentiles, who boasted of their idols, though lame 
and blind. Christ is the true David, who indeed was 
signified by all the kings of Isiael, his lineal succes- 
sors, who hath gained this notable victory over the 
Gentile world , and in those very places where su- 

Eerstition reigned, hath builded his church, fixed 
is throne, and iss\ied forth his righteous laws. If it 
was a distinguishing privilege of the ancient Zion 
and Jerusalem, to be the seat of a king of Heaven's 
election ; how greatly superior is the New Jerusa- 
lem and gospel' Zion, in being the seat of the King 
of kings, who sits upon the throne, and has the key 



THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM, See 229 

of David? *' Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of 
Zion, thy King shall never perish, and great is the 
holy One of Israel inthe midst of thee." 

They were places where God established his wor- 
ship, and to which the tribes of the Lord resorted, 
because of his house at Jerusalem. Here the voice 
of his praise was heard, and sacrifices came with 
acceptance upon his altar. Jerusalem was the city 
of Jewish solemniiies ; and it is foretold by the 
prophets, that the once hostile nations round about 
them, should pay them annual visits, and join in 
their holy festivals; yea, says the prophet Isaiah, 
" From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath 
to Sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before 
the Lord of hosts." Now, it is evident, these high 
predictions were never accomplished in the earthly 
Zion and Jerusalem: yea, it is impossible they can 
be accomplished in their literal sense ; the nature 
of things forbids it. But to the spiritual Zion, and 
lieavenly Jerusalem, they have been fulfilled, and 
shall be more and n>ore accomplished: for this holy 
hill may be found in all places of the world, and we 
may come to the city of the living God without a 
pilgrimage. 

. They were places for whose protection the divine 
providence has often times awoke in a very extra- 
ordinary manner. Assembled kings have come with 
hostile design against these highly-favoured places ; 
but instead of executing their cruel purpose, the 
joyful Israelites, after their departure, upon the most 
narrow inspection of their towers, palaces, and bul- 
warks, could not observe that any of them was bat- 
tered down, or even defaced. This was not owing 
to their own strength, but to the presence of their 
God. But this glorious prerogative, of being the pe- 
culiar care of Heaven, is now transferred to the gos- 
pel-church, and all her true members. They that 
trust in the Lord^ shail be like that mount ZioUi ihat 
can never be moved. 



(230) 



First, THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES * 

THE feast of tabernacles was one of the three 
grand festivals, in which all the males of Israel ap- 
peared before God in Jerusalem. It began on tne 
fifteenth day of the seventh month, which was four 
days after their mournful fast on the day of expia- 
tion, and was celebrated with all possible demon- 
strations of joy, and natural gladness. It lasted eight 
days, and was the longest of all their solemnities, 
and the last day is called in the New Testament, 
*' the great day of the feast." Upon this day, we are 
informed, " Jesus stood and cried. If any man thirst, 
let him come unto me and drink," alluding, as is 
commonly thought, to a ceremony they usually per- 
formed on that occasion with great pomp, though 
it be not commanded in the law.j On all the eight 

♦ The acceptable celebration of the following articles 
being fixed, by divine appointment, to Jerusalem, they 
are introduced here to explain and illustrate the great 
importance of that city as a typical place, though, in an- 
other view, they might rather appear to belong to the head 
of typical things. 

f Tremellius on John vli. 37. observes from the Tal- 
mud, that the Jews used, on the eighth day of this feast, 
to march round the altar seven times, singing Hosanna^ 
with palm branches in their hands, in memory of the Is- 
raelites, in the days of Joshua, their marching round Jeri- 
cho seven times on the day of its fall. And besides, he in- 
forms us from the same authority, that on this day they 
drew water with great joy from the brook Siloam, at the 
foot of Mount Zion, carried it to the priests of the temple, 
where they made a libation of it, mingled with wine, upon 
the altar. In the time of drawing the water, they sung 
that cheerful ditty of the prophet Isaiah, " With joy shall 
ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." They pre- 
tended that the prophet Haggai and Zechafiah were the 
institutors of these rites ; and they imagined that the 
Holy Ghost was so delighted with Iheic carnal mirth ani 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES- 231 

days they were to offer the sacrifices, which are 
minutely condescended upon by Moses. On the first 
day thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen 
lambs of the first year, and one kid of the goats for 
a sin-offering, beside the continual burnt-offering. 
But it is worthy of our notice, that the bullocks di- 
minished by one every subsequent day, till on the 
seventh day but seven were to be offered ; and upon 
the eighth and last, though the great day of the feast, 
they offered but one bullock. Did not God intend, by 
this gradual abatement as the solemnity advanced, 
to exhibit unto his people a representation of the 
decaying nature of that dispensation they were un- 
der, that a time should come when these sacrifices 
should vanish away altogether, and give place to 
more spiritual oblations, which should please the 
Lord better than any bullock that hath both horns 
and hoofs ? 

But the ceremony that gave the name to this joy- 
ful feast, was their dwelling in booths the first seven 
days. These booths were made of olive-branches, 

fnne-branches, myrtle-branches, palm -branches, wil- 
ows of the brook, and branches of other goodly 
trees, they cut down, and carried about in their 
hands. And that none might be at a loss to know the 
meaning of this ordinance, it is expressly declared 
by God himself '* That your generations may know 
that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, 
when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt." 
— Lev. xxiii. 43. So prone are human minds to bury 
in oblivion those mercies that are past, that sucli re- 
memorative institutions have been always held ne- 
cessary and expedient. And surely the divine power 
and goodness displayed to the forefathers of the Jews, 

vociferation, as to impart to them on this occasion a pro- 
phetical afflatus ; which happened, they say, to the prophet 
Jonali. The same writer observes, that as the Jews had 
miserably perverted this ordinance, by the additions of 
their own magical ceremonies ; so Christ intended to re- 
prove and silence their mad vociferations, when he cried 
with a loud voice, and to lead them away from the terres- 
trial water to the water of life, and to himself the only 
scope of this feast, and of all the other ceremonies. 



232 TYPICAL PLACES. Book 111. 

in miraculousl)^ providing all necessary accommoda- 
tions for them in a desolate wilderness, deserved an- 
niversary celebration no less than their Exodus, or 
departure from Egypt. By this glad feast, they 

E raised God for that good land into which he had 
rought them. Our ancestors^ as if they had said, 
07ice wandered in the wiiderncas, in a solitary way^ 
they found no city to divell in, But^ O thai men 
would praise the Lord for his goodiiess I he led 
-them forth by a way that was right, to go to a city 
of habitation. Instead of those dreary /irosfiects our 
fathers had in the wilderness forty years ^ we their 
posterity are introduced to this delicious country^ 
where we sow fields^ and plant vineyards^ that yield 
U8 fruits of increase^ whose rich and generous soil 
supplies us with these goodly trees from whence we 
pluck these "verdant brafiches. And we may add, 
with great probability, that their dwelling in booths 
so many days every year was a solemn recognition 
that they were still' in a wandering state, though 
settled in Canaan ; that they looked on themselves 
as strangers on the earth, even in the land of pro- 
mise, as the patriarchs, from whom they sprung, 
confessed, by dwelling in tents and tabernacles in 
this same land ; that they were but pilgt ims here, and 
expected a better heavenly inheritance. Truly this 
has been the universal acknowledgment of good 
men in every age, who have esteemed their felicity 
to arise, not so much from their present enjoyments, 
as their future prospects. They have not only counted 
themselves pilgrims and sojourners, when struggling 
with adversity, and wandering from one country to 
another, without a fixed abode ; but when elevated 
to the very summit of fortune, and enjoying the most 
profound repose which this terrestrial state affords. 
A tabernacle is the common appellation of a dwell- 
ing-place in the Old Testament ; and in the iNew 
Testament the body in which the soul is lodged is 
styled by the great apostle, *' the earthly house of 
this tabernacle," which is dissolved by death, and 
resigns to a more permanent house, a building of 
God, eternal in the heavens. David, a glorious king, 
called his palace *' the tabernacle of his house ;" and 
Jesus Christ, when he lived oii the earth, at least 



THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 233 

after he began to act in his public character, had no 
proper home, but chose to be the guest, sometimes 
to one, and sometimes to another of his foUowei's. 
Whatever other reasons might be assigned for this 
conduct of our Lord, it seems as if he had designed 
to exhibit to all his genuine disciples, an illustrious 
example of superior indifference to all sublunary 
things, and to inculcate, in the strongest manner, 
upon their minds. Arise ye^ and defiart ; this is not 
ycur rest. Set not your affections, O my people, on 
this transitory scene of things; remember the glori- 
ous hopes you entertain of admission into the celes- 
tial mansions, and learn of me not to regard this 
world as your home. Then do we keep the feast of 
tabernacles in a special manner, when we raise our 
ardent hopes to those glad regions where God our 
Father, where Christ our elder brother, and all the 
"holy saints, and blessed angels, inhabit for evermore; 
when we view these earthly mansions, and even the 
grave itself, as but our short home, and places of 
transient residence, in comparison of eternal habi- 
tations. 

But the feast of tabernacles seems chiefly to be a 
figure of that holy joy, and spiritual gladness, which 
is both the duty and privilege of the true circumci- 
sion, who worship God in the Spirit. It is long since 
this solemnity was discontinued ; for God has made 
all their feast-days to cease; and there is no war- 
rant in the scriptures for us under the christian 
ceconomy to revive this ceremonial ordinance. But 
still we have the substance of this shadow, and ought 
to keep this feast, though not in a carnal manner : 
for a prophet of the Jews* foretells the conversion 
of the Gentiles, in phrases which evidently import, 
that these joyful rites are figures of gospel-worship. ^ 
The Christian joy, both in the present and future 
life, seem to have been prefigured by this Jewish 
festivity. 

* Zech. xiv. 16. And it shall come to pass, that every 
one that is left of all the nations wiiich came against Jeru- 
salem, shall even go up from year to year, to worship the 
King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of taber- 
nacles, &c. 

u 2 



234 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III, 

It began soon after the sorrowful day of expiation, 
in which they afflicted iheir souls, and had a hvely 
representation of the great atonement. Exactly 
so, the Chiistian joy treads upon the heel of godly 
sorrow : and it is the prerogative of the high and 
lofty One, to revive the spirit of the hun\ble, and the 
heart of the contrite one. The bloody death, and 
meritorious sufferings of the great sacrifice, is the 
source from whence it springs It is strange, but 
certain, the sinner's unspeakable joy arises from the 
Saviour's unutterable woe. Well may they keep a 
feast of tabernacles, who have received the atone- 
ment by Jesus Christ; well may they sliout for joy, 
whose iniquity is pardoned, whose transgression is 
covered, and to whom the Lord will not impute sin; 
for though he was angry with them, his anger is 
turned away. 

And as this solemn feast lasted eight days, the 
Christian's joy is not like the joy of the hypocrite, 
but for a moment; for it should be perpetuated 
through the whole course of his life. '* Rejoice ever- 
more," is a New Testament precept perpetually 
obliging. There are times when carnal mirth may 
be very unseasonable, and highly improper ; but 
what should forbid that joy in the Holy Ghost, 
which is the gladness of his nation, to be indulged 
at all times ? It is a joy that may exist in the same 
soul together with the most unfeigned sorrow, and 
most lively contrition. It may even comport with the 
most afflicted state in this world, and abound in the 
greatest tribulations. It is a continual feast, which 
the unparalleled afflictions of Paul were not capable 
of interrupting. Job could say, ** Blessed be the name 
of the Lord," in the most complicated distress. And 
'* though the fig tree should not blossom, though fruit 
should not be found in the vine, though the labour 
of the olive should fail, though the flock should be 
cut off from the fold, and there should be no herd in 
the stall ;" it was the firm resolution of Habakkuk, 
'* Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and be glad in the 
God of my salvation." 

However, it must be owned, the feast is kept here 
but imperfectly. We are in heaviness through mani- 
fold temptations, and must not expect to have ail 



THE FAST OF ANNIVERSARY A TOXKMENT. 035 

tears wiped away in a place of sin and sorrow. The 
principal celebration of this festival is in heaven, 
where alone there is fulness of pure unmixed joy. In 
comparison of this blessed state, how imperfect is 
the present ! It may be resembled to the sorrowful 
day of expiation, that preceded this joyful feast. But 
as the Jews of old, for one day of sorrow had eight 
days of gladness, so momentary affliction shall there 
give place to everlasting joy. The beloved apostle 
describes the heavenly state in allusion to the cere- 
monies of this feast : ** And I beheld, and lo ! a great 
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, 
and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before 
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
robes ;" and, as the Jews were wont at the feast of 
tabernacles, they had palms in their hand, and sung 
with a loud voice the great hosanna. 



Secoxdxy, the fast OF ANNIVERSARY 
ATOxNEMENT. 



UPON the tenth day of the seventh month, (a 
month distinguished in the Jewish rubrick for the 
great number of festivals observed in it,) the whole 
body of the people in Israel were required to keep 
a solemn fast to afflict their souls for sin, and to ab- 
stain from all manner of servile work. But the chief 
solemnities of the day consisted in those rites by 
which the high-priest was to make atonement for 
the sins of his nation ; which rites were never prac- 
tised but upon this occasion. Whatever our great 
High-Priest has done for the salvation of his people 
in earth beneath, or in heaven above, was prefigured 
in these venerable solemnities. This the inspired 
writer to the Hebrews having at great length illus- 
trated to our hand, it will not be necessary to en- 
large upon it. Let it suffice briefly to enumerate the 
sacerdotal actions reserved for this memorable day, 
and then to hint at their typical sense. 



235 TYPICAL PLACES. Book It i 

How then was the Jewish high-priest to equip 
himself for the service of the day? He was to put 
on his holy linen garments after washing himself. 
He was to furnish himself with a bullock for a sin* 
offering, and a ram for a burnt-Oifering, to be offered 
for his own sins, and the sins of his family. He was 
also to take of the congregation two kids of the goats 
for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering. 
The two goacs, making but one offering together, 
were not to be used in the same manner. One of 
them was to be offered unto the Lord after the man- 
ner of a sin-offering; the other presented ahve be- 
fore the Lord, and then dismissed into the wilder- 
ness. The sacritices being prepared, he proceeded 
in the following manner. First, he killed the bul- 
lock, to atone for himself and family; and taking in 
his hand a censer full of burning coals from off the 
altar, and a quantity of sweet incense sufficient to 
raise a cloud that should cover the mercy- seat, 
taking also the blood of his bullock in a vessel, he 
went also into the sanctuary, set the incense on fire, 
and sprinkled the blood upon and before the mercy - 
seat. The sacrifice for himself being thus performed, 
he returns out of the sanctuary, and kills the goat 
of the sin-offering for the people ; and bringing his 
blood again within the vail, he sprinkles it, as he 
had done with the blood of the bullock, upon the 
mercy-seat, and likewise upon the golden altar. 
** And," said the law-giver of the Jews, ** there shall 
be no man in the tabernacle when he goeth in to 
make an atonement in the holy place, until he come 
out." The next ceremony is this : he brings the live 
goat, and laying his hands upon the head of the crea- 
ture, confesses over him all the iniquities of the chil- 
dren of Israel, putting them upon the head of the 
goat, and sends him by some fit man into the wilder- 
ness ; ** and the goat," said the Lord, *' shall bear 
upon him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, 
into a land not inhabited." This done, he goes into 
the tabernacle of the congregation, and stripping 
himself of his linen garments, he deposits them in 
the holy place, washes himself, puts on his golden 
garments for glory and beauty, comes forth to the 
people, and oilers the two rams for a burnt-offering. 



TPIE FAST OF ANNIVERSARY ATONEMENT. 23T 

the one for himself, and the other for the people. 
Lastly, the fat of the sin-offering is burnt upon the 
altar, and the bodies of the bullock and goat, whose 
blood had been carried into the holy place, were 
burned without the camp. 

Such is the order of the holy rites to be practised 
on this great anniversary, and the happy effects of 
it are said to be a cleansing from all their sins. Now, 
it is evident these carnal ordinances have many 
marks of weakness and imperfection If we speak 
of real atonement, it was utterly impossible that the 
blood of these bullocks and goats could take sin 
away as pertaining to the conscience. They were 
but brute creatures, of inferior nature to the priest 
that offered them, and to the people for whom they 
were offered. They were offered by a sinful man, 
who needed atonement for himself. They were of- 
fered year by year continually, and in them a re- 
membrance was again made of sin every year. Now, 
if they could have made the comers to them perfect^ 
would they not have ceased to be offered ? Most 
certainly they would. Because that the worshippers 
once purged, should have had no more conscience 
of sin. In all these things the Priest of our profession 
has the pre-eminence, He needed not. like \aron 
and his successors, to offer for himself, being harm- 
less and undefiled. He needed not to shed the blood 
of others; for he was able to offer up himself. He 
needed not repeat his sacrifice oftener than once, 
or suffer often from the foundation of the world; for 
by one offering he had for ever perfected all them 
that are sanctified. These necessary allowances 
being made, of the vast disparity between the type 
and Jesus Christ, we shall proceed to enumerate 
some of these grand evangelical mysteries that were 
enigmatically preached unto the Jews in the trans- 
actions of this day. 

That in future time a true and proper atonement 
should be made for the sins of Israel, or, to use the 
style of the prophet Zechariah, that "God would 
remove the iniquity of his land in one day ;" this 
seems to have been the leading doctrine held forth 
in all the sacrifices, but especially in those that were 
offered on this occasion. Yet a little while, and God 



233 TYPICAL PLACES. Bock IIJ. 

will exhibit a propitiation, in the promised Messiah, 
who shall finish transgression, and make an end of 
sin, and perfectly do that will of God, which cannot 
be done by sacrifice for sin, and burnt-offerings, 
Aiid how shall this great event be brought to pass? 
how shall the Messias redeem Israel from all his 
iniquities? What shall he do? What shall be done 
unto him ? How shall he begin, and in what manner 
shall he finish the arduous work? These questions 
may all be answered by these anniversary rites. 

It was signified that the great Maker of atonement 
should assume the nature for whom it should be 
made: for their high priest was one of their bre- 
thren, and taken from among men. — That when he 
should come into the world, to do the will of God^ 
he should not make a splendid figure, nor array him- 
self with all that glory of which he is truly pos- 
sessed. For as the high-priest of the Jews, upon the 
day of atonement, put not on at the first his best suit 
of apparel, but was content with the holy linen gar- 
ments he wore in common with other priests. — That 
he should be constituted a public person, and re- 
present a great number of individuals, in whatever 
should be done by him. For the High-Priest did not 
x)fficiate in the garments which he commonly wore, 
but in these public ix)bes that were the badges of 
his public character as the representative of the 
people. — That the sins of all the redeemed should 
be transferred upon him, and becon\e his own by 
legal imputation. For all the iniquities of the children 
of Israel were solemnly confessed over the head of 
the scape-goat, before he was dismissed into the 
wilderness. — That when thus charged with guilt, 
he should suffer the punishment of death, and his 
life be violently taken away. For the other goat, the 
bullock, and the two rams, were killed for sin-offer- 
ings and burnt-offerings. And * without shedding of 
blood was no remission." — That the blood of Jesus 
should be shed in a public manner without the gate. 
For the bodies of these beasts were burned without 
the camp.— That he should, however, live even 
when dead, as to his divine nature, and be a glori- 
ous conqueror of the grave by his resurrection. For 
tlie scape-goat, which was the half of the sin-ofller- 



THE VAST OF AKNIVERSAR Y ATONEMENT. 23 9 

ing for the people, was not tp be killed, as the otlier 
goat. — 1 hat he should, when the work of purging 
our sins was finished, disappear on earth enter 
within the vail of these aspectable heavens, into 
that happy place where God resides among the 
blessed angels. For when the high-priest had shed 
the blood of the bullock and the goat, he went out 
of the sight of the Israelites, entering within the vail 
into that venerable apartment, where were the sym- 
bols of the divine presence, and where Jehovah sat 
enthroned between the cherubims. — That this most 
precious blood should be the key to open the ever- 
lasting gates, or should procure his welcome recep- 
tion into the presence of God. For unless the high- 
priest had offered up the appointed victims, he durst 
not have presumed to see the face of God in the most 
holy place. — 'I'hat though the heavens should con- 
tain him, and the world see him no more, he should 
still be carrying on his priestly work in the pre- 
sence of Jehovah. For when the Jewish priest en- 
tered within the vail ; he perfumed the mercy-seat 
with incense, and sprinkled it with blood. Truly, 
unless the high-priest had gone into the holiest of 
all with his blood and incense, he had not discharged 
the most glorious part of his work. If he haj^ only 
offered the victims, and gone no further than the 
middle court, the inferior priests had been upon a 
level with him ; for these things they did as well as 
he. So if Jesus Christ were still on earth, when he 
offered up himself; if he had not gone to thtf Father, 
and retired from the view of men, he could not be 
a priest in the most eminent sense of the word, the 
most glorious part of his function were still to be dis- 
charged, and the resemblance betwixt him and the 
Jewish high -priest would be very lame and imper- 
fect. But rejoice. O ye that beheve in his name, and 
ye who make his atonement the principal basis of 
your comfort : for we have a great High-Priest, that 
was once on earth, but is now passed into the hea- 
vens, Jesus the Son of God. There he appears as a 
Lamb, as it had been slain, and stands with his gold- 
en censer, to offer up the incense of his intercession 
with the prayers of all saints. A time will come, 
when the interposipg vail sl;iaU be drawn aside, acd 



240 TYPICAL PLACES. Book Hi. 

the great High-Priest return with sound of trumpet, 
to bless his expecting people, and absolve them from 
all their iniquities before an assembled world: for 
** 10 them that look for him, he shall appear the se*- 
cond time without sin unto salvation." 



00000 ' 

Thirdly, THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS AND OF 
PENTECOST. 



AS it was the will of God, that his people should 
dwell alone, and be divided from all nations of the 
world by a wall of jmrtition, till the Messias should 
come to pull it down ; so, besides a great number of 
other peculiarities, they must not plough nor sow, 
nor reap, in the sartie manner as other people. The 
rites with which they began and finished their har- 
vest, are not unworthy of a particular notice. Besides 
the charitable regulation they observed, in not mak- 
ing a clean riddance of the corners of their field, nor 
gathef ing any gleanings, nor returning to fetch a for- 
gotten sheaf; (for these were the perquisites of the 
poor stranger, the fatherless, and the widow :) they 
were commanded to begin their harvest with offering 
to the Lord a sheaf of the first-fruits, and to end it in 
a holy Convocation, and an offering of two loaves, 
with other solemnities. 

The beginning of harvest in the holy land, was on 
the morrow after the feast of the passover, when 
they presented their first-fruits unto the Lord, not 
only for the whole congregntion, but, as it would 
seem, for every particular family. The form of 
words to be pronounced on this occasion by him that 
offered the first-fruits, is expressly recorded in the 
Jewish law;* and the wise king of Israel enforces 
the obedience of tiiis religious precept with the as- 

* Deut» xxvi. 3. I profess this day, that I am come into 
the country, which the Lord sware unto our fathers for 
to give us.' A Syrian ready to perish vras my father, &c* 



THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS AND OF PENTECOST. 24 1 

surance of the heavenly benediction : '* Honour the 
Loixi with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of 
thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plen- 
ty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." 
I'hey were themselves forbid to taste the produce 
of the year, whether bread, parched corn, or green 
ears, till they had brought the appointed offering to 
their God, as an acknowledgment of his dominion, 
and expression of their gratitude. It seems to have 
been a significant ceremony, intended to revive that 
law of nature. That the all bounteous Giver should 
be honoured with our first and best. And truly, the 
observance of this rule is not only enjoined every 
where in the Mosaic ritual ; but may be traced as 
high as the offering of the first martyr, who brought 
unto the Lord ot the firstlings of his flock ; whereas 
no such thing is observed of the first murderer, to 
whose offering the Lord had no respect. Besides, 
when he who crowned the year with his goodness, 
required a sheaf to be given him, it might impress 
upon their minds such momentous truths as these, 
that we can give nothing to God but what we first 
receive from God : that what we present unto God, 
cannot be profitable unto him ; and that what he re- 
quires, is nothing to what he bestows. What is a sin- 
gle sheaf to all the treasures of the harvest ? Would 
he not been a foolish Israelite, who should have re- 
garded his puny sheaf as an equivalent or price that 
deserved at God's hand the rich productions of the 
year ? Nor is it less absurd for any to imagine, that 
their most useful actions can deserve the gift of eter- 
nal life, that joyful harvest of light that is sown for 
the righteous, and of gladness that is sown for the 
upright in heart. 

The end of harvest was upon the fiftieth day after 
it begun. This day was solemnized with a rehgious 
assembling, and with abstaining from servile work. 
The husbandman had seen the fruits of his ground 
brought to maturity, and testified his gratitude by 
the sheaf which he offered, with holy rites, upon the 
first day: and now he offers upon the fiftieth day two 
large loaves of fine flour baken with leaven, which 
are also called the first-fruits unto the Lord^ and 
Here a thank offering, as well as the sheaf, to that 

X ' 



242 Typical places. Book iir. 

good God who bad reserved for them the appointed 
weeks of the harvest. On the beginning of Pentecost 
th^v offered wiih the sheaf, a lamb without blemish, 
for a burnt-offering ; but now their gratitude must 
rise in proportion to the favours they receive, and 
not one lamb, but seven lambs, one young bullock, 
and two rams, must smoke upon God's altar. 

We are informed by the historian of the New Tes- 
tament, that this fiftieth day coincided with the most 
remarkable event of the descent of the Holy Ghost 
upon the first founders of Christianity. *' When the 
days of Pentecost were fully come, they were all 
with one accord in one place, and suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues 
as of fire, and sat upon each of them, and they were 
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." By 
inspecting the history of the Israelites* march from 
Egypt, it will also be found, that upon this very day 
the law was given at mount Sinai. The conjunction 
of these two grand events on the last day of the Pen- 
tecost, seems not without some special intention in 
the Holy Ghost. Fifty days after the deliverance 
from Egypt was the killing letter, or the fiery law 
given ; and fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, 
our better deliverance, was the quickening Spirit dis- 
pensed, to write the law, not on hard tables of stone, 
but on the fleshly tables of the heart, and to (qualify 
the apostles to begin a new har^ est, far more impor- 
tant than what was now happily finished ; a harvest 
not of corn, but of men, to be reaped by putting 
the sickle of the word of God into the field of the 
world. 

Such were the sacred rites with which the Jews 
began and finished their harvest; and, in the lan- 
guage of the New Testament, whatever thing is the 
beginning, pledge, and earnest of more of the same 
kind, is styled first-fruits. So the first-fruits of 
Achaia^ denotes the most early converts to the 
Christian faith in that part of the world: and those 
begun graces and consolations of the Holy Ghost, 
that are the earnest of the eternal inheritance, and 
denominated the first-fruits of the Spirit. But wti 



THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS AND OF PENTECOST. 243 

shall chiefly observe the application of this epithet 
to Christ, and to believers. 

" Christ," says the inspired apostle, " is risen from 
the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that 
sleep." May we not hence affirm, that as the harvest 
is a natural emblem of the end of the world, and ge- 
neral resurrection ; so the Jewish first-fruits did re- 
present the resurrection of the Son of God, The bo- 
tlies of the saints, when deposited in ihe grave, may 
be compared to that seed which the husbandman 
commits to the furrows of the field. One would ima- 
gine ; that the grain once buried under the clod, 
■would never more emerge from under it. But con- 
stant experience assure us, that by the combined in- 
fluence of vernal showers and suns, it will burst the 
confinement of the furrow, and reward the labourer's 
toil with copious fruit. So. at the destined hour, the 
sleeping dust of saints shall revive as the corn ; the 
earth shall cast forth her dead, and shall no more 
cover iier slain ; and what was sown in dislionour, 
shall be raised in glory. The resiarrection of the 
corn, is an event in the world of nature, that clearly 
proves the possibility of God's raising the dead . The 
resurrection of Jesus Christ advances further still, 
and evidently proves the certainty of our bodies 
arising from the dust. This joyful event not only pro- 
claims in loudest accents, that the dry bones can live, 
if it is the pleasure of God to send forth his quicken- 
ing Spirit; but asserts, in the strongest manner, that 
he will revive us, lie will raise us upy and nue shall 
live in his sight. Were the first-fruits reaped before 
the rest of the harvest. So Christ the first-fruits was 
raised from the grave, and afterwards thev that are 
Christ's shall be raised at his coming. Were the 
first- fruits a pledge and earnest to the Israelites, that 
the whole harvest should be reaped in due time? 
The resurrection of Jesus Christ insures the resur- 
rection of all his people at the appointed season. So 
runs the joyful declaration in the prophet. " Thy 
dead men shall live, together wiih my dead body 
shall they arise. Awake and sing, ve that dwell in 
the dust.'"' 

But as the first-fruits are an emblem of Jesus 
Chiist, they no less represent the faithful, and the 



344 TYPICAL PLACES. Book III. 

redeemed from among men. " Israel/' says a pro- 
phet, " was holiness to the Lord, and the first-fruits 
of his increase." And an apostle affirms, that " of 
his own will we are begotten by the word of truth, 
that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his crea- 
tures." Let us see the resemblance. The first-fruits 
were the unalienable property of the God of Israel, 
with which it had been sacrilege to intermeddle. 
Even so, the redeemed are the portion of the Lord ; 
they are not their own, and all who devour them 
shall offend. The first-fruits were given by God to 
the priests, as a part of their maintenance. This puts 
us in mind of that saying of our High-Priest, '* Thine 
they were, and thou gavest them me." I'he first- 
fruits were but a small part of the harvest. This may 
denote the paucity of saints, who, in comparison of 
the multitude, are like an handful of corn in the 
earth. But, lastly. As the first-fruits did sanctify and 
bless the, whole crop, and in their use were better 
than the rest : even so, the people of God, though 
few and small, are the excellent of the earth, and a 
blessing in the midst of the land, however much they 
may be undervalued by worldly men. 



Fourthly, THE FEAST OF THE NEW MOON. 



AS the feast of the new moon is placed among the 
shadow of good things to come, by the apostle of the 
Gentiles, we must not altogether pass over it. Though 
the beginning of the seventh month was peculiarly 
sacred, the beginnings of all the other months were 
also dedicated unto God, and solemnized with holy 
rites, and exercises of devotion. On their new moons 
they refrained from servile work, offered extraordi- 
nary sacrifices,* resorted to the prophets, feasted to- 

* The sacrifices for the new moon appointed in the Mo- 
saic law, are two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs, &c. 
Lev. xxviii. 11. Ezekiel mentions but one young bullock. 



1 HE FEAST OF THE NEW MOON. 24^ 

gether, and blowed the silver trumpets. Let us 
try if we can assign the probable reasons of this 
service, or the moral instructions that may be 
learned from this statute unto Israel, and law of the 
God of Jacob. 

And, first, might it not be designed as an ascription 
of praise and thanksgiving to that glorious Being 
-who suspended that silver lamp in the blue vault of 
heaven, that it might smooth the shades of night 
with its cheerful borrowed rays, turn the ocean in 
its bed, divide our time, and serve the purposes of 
vegetation, as well as the golden ruler of the day ? 
They acknowledged, by this festival, that God who 
is above was the prime m6ver of this and other hea- 
venly luminaries ; that to him they were indebted for 
all the beneficial effects of these excellent creatures. 
Had they intended to address their homage to the 
host of heaven themselves, and not him who formed 
them by the breath of his mouth, they would no 
doubt have rather blown their trumpets to the rising 
sun, or to the moon at her full, when she walks in 
brightness. But God, who is jealous of his glory, re- 
quired that he should be praised for this good crea- 
ture, not when she appears to her greatest advan- 
tage, but when she is altogether invisible, or dimly 
seen, like an inconsiderable streak of light. By this 
precaution none can suspect, but the sacred rites 
were in honour of him who made the sun to rule by 
day, and the moon to rule by night : for his mercy 
€ndurethf(jr ever. 

Might it not also be intended as a solemn recogni- 
tion, that God was the sole proprieror of their times, 
which are wholly in his hand, and ought to be dedi- 
cated unto his service ? The first days of their month 
might be offered to God for the same reasons, as the 

six lambs, and a ram, chap. xlvi. 6. though the church- 
state which he describes, is supposed to be more glorious 
than the former one. We see from this, the ceremonial 
law was not designed to be unalterable : for not only the 
priesthood being changed, (which the apostle observes, 
Heb. vii. 12.) but the sacrifice also being changed, (ac- 
cording to Ezekiel,) there is made of necessity a change 
also of the law, 

X 2 



246 TYPICAL PLACES. Book IH. 

first-fruits of their ground. Hereby they disclaimed 
the superstition of the Heathen, who were dismayed 
at the signs of heaven, and esteemed some parcels of 
their time ill-fated or unlucky. As every creature of 
God is good; so no time is evil, being sanctified by 
the same word of God and prayer. If the first-fruits 
be holy, so is the lump ; and if the first day of every 
month be holy, the subsequent days are consecrated 
by it. 

But chiefly, as one is apt to look for some notices 
of the Messiah in all the legal ordinances, might not 
this monthly festival, and especially the feast of 
trumpets in the seventh month of their civil, but 
first of their sacred year, be viewed by them as a 
faint shadow of the future renovation of all things by 
Jesus Christ? Though we must not be bold in fixing 
our own conjectures upon the Holy (ihost, as his un- 
doubted meaning, there seems, however, to be a con- 
siderable Hkeness betwixt the blowing of the trumpet 
at the new moon, and the voice both of the gospel 
and the archangel. 

First, It might perhaps be a figure of the new face 
the church should wear in the age of the Messiah. 
In other places, the universal church is compared to 
the moon, and the preaching of the gospel is resem- 
bled to the blowing of a great trumpet. What though 
we should consider the old moon as an emblem of the 
Jewish (Economy, which, like that waning orb, de- 
cayed, waxed old, and vanished away. But the 
Christian dispensation may be compared to the new 
moon, which, though small at first, did gradually in- 
crease, while the sound of the gospel trumpet, the 
voice of our great High-Priest, did go into all the 
earth, and his words unto the end of the world. Who 
knows but the believing Jews might, by this feast, 
express their faith and joy in that happy revolution, 
which the apostle calls, *• the abolishing in his flesh 
the enmity, even the law of commandments con- 
tained in ordinances, to make in himself of twain one 
new man." 

Or, lastly, may we not discern, in this monthly 
festival, a shadow of the awful transactions in the 
great and terrible day of the Lord; which shall, 
however, be a joyful period to all true Israelites, anS 



THE METAPHORICAL PRIESTHOOD, &c. 24!^ 

the time of the restitution of all things ? This visible 
world itself may be resembled to a waning moon, as 
the fashion of it passes away. But as the new moon 
succeeded the old, while the priests did blow with 
their trumpets; so when the last trumpet shall 
sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
the living shall be changed, this corruptible shall put 
on incorrupiion, and this mortal shall put on immor- 
tality. Then shall that blessed state commence, 
when, according to the sublime prophet, *' Thy sun, 
O ZAon, shall be no^ more thy light by day, neither 
for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee ; 
but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, 
and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go 
down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the 
Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of 
thy mourning shall be ended." 



ooooo < • 

Fifthly, THE METAPHORICAL PRIESTHOOD OF 
ALL CHRISTIANS. 



ALTHOUGH the Levitical priests were chiefly 
designed to prefigure the great High-Priest, as has 
been said, this hinders not to view them also as em- 
blems of all the saints, who in every age are caused 
to approach unto God, that they may dwell in the 
house of the Lord for ever. It is true indeed, the 
great propitiatory sacrifice is already offered, never 
to be repeated again ; and we cannot sufficiently de- 
test that sacrilegious usurpation of the Redeemer's 
glory, by the pretended priests in the Roman church, 
who, without any the least warrant from the sacred 
oracles, give out to their deluded votaries, that they 
offer in the mass, I know not what unbloody sacrifice 
for the sins of the living and the dead. O impiety ! 
O absurdity ! for can any thing be more wicked and 
foolish, than to imagine that Jesus Christ has not, by 
his one offering, for ever perfected all them that are 
sanctified, but left his work to be completed by a 
wretched, mumbling, mortal priest ! We Christians 



24S -HpICAL places. Book Hi. 

must acknowledge, that all priesthood, in the strict 
literal sense, is now ceased in Christ the end of the 
law. But still there is a metaphorical priesthood, 
which the New Testament ascribes, not to the office- 
bearers in the Christian church, but to all Christians 
without exception. It was the promise of God to his 
ancient people, that they should be unto him a king- 
dom offiriests ; and the phrase is adopted by a New 
Testament apostle, who says to the whole body of 
the believers to whom he wrote, ** Ve are a royal 
priesthood." It was foretold by the holy prophets, 
that men should call the professors of the true reli- 
gion, the priests of the Lord^ and the ministers of our 
God ; — that the Gentiles should be taken for priests 
and Levites ;— that the priestly tribe should have an 
offspring nutnerous as the host of heaven, and the 
sand of the sea; — that in every place which the 
rising and setting sun surveys, incense, and a pure 
offering, should be offered to the true God. These 
great and precious promises have already been, and 
kill more shall be fulfilled. The company of the re- 
deemed were seen by John in vision, arrayed in white 
robes, the badge of their priestly character ; and he 
heard their heavenly song of praise to that loving 
Saviour that washed them from their sins in his own 
blood and hath made us kmgs and priests unto God. 
Though the analogy of the legal and metaphorical 
priesthood may not perhaps be so striking as betvvixt 
Aaron and Christ Jesus, there is not wanting a con- 
siderable resemblance. 

Were the Levitical priests chosen by God, and 
separated to his peculiar service r* God hath chosen 
the faithful from the rest of mankind, and set apart 
him that is godly for himself. Were they taken in 
the room of the first-born of all the tribes, to whom 
the right of priesthood seems to have originally be- 
longed? The people of Christ are the general as- 
sembly and church of the first-born, as all God's 
children are. Were they all descended from Aaron 
and Levi ? (for unless they could prove their genea- 
logy, they were put from the priesthood as polluted.) 
So all the saints are descendants from Jesus Christ, 
their everlasting Father, and ought to ascertain their 
heavenly extraction by the documents of a holy con- 



THE METAPHORICAL PRIESTHOOD, he: 239 

versation. They were washed with water at their 
consecration, and were always to use the great laver 
that stood in the entry of the tabernacle, when they 
ministered in the sanctuary. This puts us in mind of 
the washing of regeneration, that all Christians par- 
take at first; and of the frequent recourse to the 
fountain of Christ's blood in their holy services. The 
oil that anointed them, signified the unction of the 
Spirit, which the faithful receive from the holy One. 
The white raiments of fine linen, is an emblem of the 
righteousness of the saints. They were not allowed 
a share of the earthly Canaan, as the other tribes : 
for the Lord spake unto Aaron, *' Thou shalt have 
no inheritance in iheir land, nor have any part amont^ 
them: I am thy part, and thine inheritance." Was 
not this a lively type of the superior privilege of his 
beloved, who are delivered from the men of the 
world, who have their wretched portion in this tran- 
sitory life } but the Lord is their portion, and there- 
fore in him they may hope, be their outward state 
ever so indigent. The ceremonial purity required of 
them that bore the vessels of the Lord, denotes, that 
holiness becomes the house of the Lord for ever, and 
all who worship in his temple. 

But what are their sacrifices? Let an apostle 
speak this ; they are ** spiritual sacrifices, accepta- 
ble to God by Jesus Christ." Perhaps we might say, 
to use the legal style, there is the meat-offering of 
charitable distributions ; the drink-offering of peni- 
tent tears, issuing from a broken contrite heart; the 
heave-offering of prayer, and elevaied desires ; the 
peace-offering of praise and thanksgiving; and the 
whole burnt-offering of the whole man, when the 
body is presented unto God a living sacrifice, when 
every lust is mortified, and the very life surrendered 
for the honour of God in martyrdom, which some- 
times is a reasonable service. These are the sacri- 
fices which all the saints should offer, not to an un- 
atoned, but to an atoned God. They themselves are 
their temples; and, besides, they have access by 
faith into heaven, the holiest of all. Christ is th^ir 
altar, that sanctifies all their gifts. His Spirit is the 
fire that inflames, and his merit is the salt that 
powders all their sacrifices, when they come with 
acceptance before the presence of Jehovah. 



AN 



EVANGELICAL HISTORY 



OF 



The birihy life, deathy resiirrection, a7icl ascension of Jesvs 
Christ, the true Messiah^ in -whom all the Types, of 
the Old Testament are fulfilled. 



'OOQOO- 



JTHE seventy weeks of Daniel were now elapsed, 
and they who looked for salvation in Israel, were 
wrapt in silent expectation of the Messiah conning 
in the name of the Lord to save them. Long had the 
Gentile nations walked in their own ways, and the 
Jews practised the ceremonies of Moses. But neither 
could the precepts of the philosopher retrieve the 
ruins of our fall, nor could the carnal ordinances of 
the law make them perfect who had recourse unto 
them, as touching the conscience. For as yet the 
daily oblation had not ceased, nor the temple smoked 
in ruin, into which the Messenger of the covenant, 
according to an ancient prediction, was suddenly to 
come. 1 he sceptre of David was now sunk into the 
hatchet of a carpenter, and his tabernacle was fallen 
down. Tiberius swayed the sceptre of Rome ; Herod 
was king in Judea ; John the Baptist had lain six 
months in the womb, who was to be the harbinger 
of his coming ; and a profound peace reigned over 
the world, as a presage of his birth, whose name is 
called the Prince of peace. When the almighty 
King, w^ho is ever mindful of his covenant, dis- 
patches from the blessed abodes the angel Gabriel, 
(none of the least of the heavenly throng, and not 
now first employed in embassies of love to man,) 
to- salute the blessed virgin, the mother of our Lordi 



252 '^^ EVANGELICAL HISTORY 

The obedient angel flies ; and punctually discharges 
his commission. But, O ye Papists, though he ho- 
nours her as a saint, he worships her not as a 
goddess. A new thing indeed it was in the earth, 
thar a virgin should conceive ; but by no means im- 
possible unto the Moly Ghost to bring about by his 
overshadowing power. If once a woman was formed 
out of the substance of a man, why should not that 
same divine power be fully able to produce a man 
out of the substance of a woman? May we not hum- 
bly judge, that it came from him who is wonderful 
in counsel, and excellent in working, that for the 
general honour of our nature, the Saviour did spring 
from that feeble sex which was first in the trans^ 
gression ? For '' as the woman is of the man, even 
so also the man is by the woman : but all things 
are of God." O condescending Saviour, blessed, be- 
yond all peradventure, was the womb that bare 
thee, and those paps that gave thee suck : nor is it 
easy to conceive how a sinful woman could be more 
highly honoured, than to carry thee in her womb, 
unless by having thee formed in her heart. 

Here let us forego all idle speculations, about what 
other methods were possible to God, by which to 
send forth his Son into our lower world ; and let us 
rather be »>illing to discern the character^ of wis- 
dom that are evidently instamped upon this dispen- 
sation, such as it is. For had a body been prepared 
him of nothing, of the dust of the ground, or of some 
heavenly materials he would not been of the same 
flesh and blood with those he intended to redeem. 
Or had it been produced in the ordinary method of 
human generation, he v%^ould have been involved in 
the same guilt of Adam's originating sin with the 
rest of mankind, whom he represented in the first 
broken covenant. As in the former case his rela- 
tion to us would (for what appears) been too remote ; 
so in the latter, he would (in all appearance) been 
too like us, not only in the qualities of our natures, 
but in the guilt of our persons. But he is born of a 
woman, and therefore of our boue and our flesh. 
And because his mother is a virgin, we easily under- 
stand how he is holy, undefiled, and separated from 
simiers, But here a Uifliculty arises to our thoughts: 



O? JESUS CHRIST. 253 

for if she is a virgin that shall be with child by the 
Holy Ghost, who shall preserve her character from 
the unjust aspersions of the world? It is far rribre 
fitting, that her holy child Jesus shall confirm the 
truth of his divine extraciion, by the tenor of his de- 
portment, when adult, than that she should be the 
the asserter of it. Therefore she is betrothed unto 
a husband, who is at once the witness and the guar- 
dian of her virginity. 

But leaving the sacred embryo to be curiously 
"wrought in the lower parts of the earth by the fin- 
gers of the Almighty, let us next see in what man- 
ner the heavenly infant was ushered into the light. 
-For thou Bethlehem Efihratahy though little among 
the thousands of Judah^ according to the piophets, 
shalt give birth to the Ruler of Israel. But though 
the blessed virgin can trace her genealogy from 
David, and from Abraham, she is a resident of Na- 
zareth, from whence no prophet was expected to 
arise. How then shall the prediction be accom- 
plished ? The emperor of Rome issues a royal edict, 
that all his large dominion shall be taxed. He meant 
to fill his coffers with money ; but a greater Sove- 
reign than he intended the fulfilling of his promise?. 
While every man repairs to his city to be taxed in 
obedience to the impeiial mandate, Joseph his 
father, as was supposed, repairs among the rest to 
Bethlehem, the city of his family, being of the house 
and lineage of David. And now he is arrived with 
Mary, his espoused wife, who being near the time 
of her delivery, had been directed by providence, 
or special instinct, to accompany her husband on 
this occasion. No costly palace receives our wearied 
travellers. A common inn is the place of his nativity. 
Perhaps a silent intimation, that he himself should 
be a common Saviour. Nor even in the inn could 
a commodious apartment be spared to the Lord of 
heaven and earth. Ye men of Bethlehem, what a guest 
did you exclude ! I'he coarse accommodation of the 
manger was all his mother could obtain for her ten- 
der infant. Lo! there he lies wrapt in swaddling 
clothes, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain ! 
He is associated with the herds in the stall, whom 
all the angels adore ! For this is he, believe it, ye chil- 

Y 



254 -A^N EVANGELICAL HISTORY 

dren of men, whose name is Immanuel, which by in- 
terpretation is, God with us! This is he, who from all 
evejrlasting was the brightness of his Father's glory, 
the express image of his Person, who rejoiced always 
before him, and was daily his delight ! This is he, 
who was in the form of God, and thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God ; but for our salvation 
he is clothed in flesh and blood, and now become 
a helpless feeble infant ! O ye beautiful scenes of 
the creation, thou glorious sun, thou silver moon, 
and all ye glittering stars, in you the invisible things of 
God are clearly seen; but now you are eclipsed by 
the more excellent glory, God manifested in the flesh. 
Come hither, ye that thirst for curious knowledge, 
and lose yourselves in thankful admiration. For the 
Person of the eternal word, by whom all things were 
made, is found in the likeness of man, is become as 
our brother, that sucked the breasts of our mother. 
Not that he stripped himself of any divine perfec- 
tion, or ceased to be what he was ; but by a most 
ineffable act of condescension and power, he has 
vailed the glory of his divinity, and become what 
he was not, by assuming a portion of our humanity 
to subsist in his own Personality. O mysterious in- 
fant, the glory of our race, who art not ashamed to 
call us brethren. Now thou art fully able to give 
our ransom unto God, and the redemption of our 
souls, though precious, shall not cease forever. 

What chaiming melody is that breaking the si- 
lence of the night, and tasting strong of heaven ? It is 
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God in 
strams of highest rapture. O shepherds, blessed 
■were your ears, to hear such early tidings of a Sa- 
viour born in the city of David. Though your heads 
were wet with dew, and your locks with the drops 
of the night ; yet none of the princes of this world 
could boast of such an honour. But, lo ! three east 
em sages, conducted by a wondrous star, or glitter- 
ing meteor, come from a far country, to seek and 
worship the prindely babe of Bethlehem. They are 
not scandalized at the inglorious figure the infant- 
king did cast ; but perceiving the rays of Deity, even 
through the vail of flesh, (such is the power of faith,) 
they not only offer unto him costly presents, but ad- 
dress him with divine honours. A sadjpresage, yc 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 255 

children of the kingdom, that '* many shall come 
fi'om the east, and from the west, and from the south, 
and from the north, and shall sit down with Abra- 
ham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, in the kingdom 
of God, when you yourselves shall be cast out." la 
vain does the besotted tyrant of Judea think to 
reverse the high decrees of heaven, by issuing out 
a bloody mandate to murder the tender innocents. 
While their infant blood defiles the streets of Beth- 
lehem, Egypt herself shall be a sanctuary to the 
young Prince of peace. Be comforted, ye mothers, 
whose lovely babes have perished in so good a cause, 
and received such an early crown. In a little time 
the cruel murderer shall feel the weight of so many- 
just curses upon his guilty head, and the Messias 
shall reign in spite of his infuriate and feeble rage. 

We cannot reasonably doubt, but the young Re- 
deemer gave early proofs of his divine original. It 
was no doubt a very pleasing employment to the 
highly favoured parents to rear up this tender plant 
by a thousand endearing offices, to mark the first 
buddings of his genius more than mortal, and to ob- 
serve the blossoms of every heavenly grace that 
adorned his holy soul. But as it hath seemed good 
to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, to be very sparing 
in the history of his private life, after he called his 
Son out of Egypt, we must be content to remain in 
ignorance of what is not revealed. Yet as a speci- 
men of the rest, one remarkable occurrence is irans- 
mitted down to our knowledge, concerning the holy 
child Jesus. He had numbered but twelve revolv- 
ing years, when accompanying his religious parents 
to the solemn festival of the passover, young as he 
was he could maintain a dispute even with the doc- 
tors in the temple. His parents not suspecting where 
he was, seek him with sorrowful hearts, and the 
third day restores him to their longing eyes. Wist 
ye not that he had the business ot his heavenly 
Father to look after, and that he needs not your 
paternal care ? For though his parents should both 
forsake him, the Lord will take him up. Ye learned 
doctors, little thought you, that the amazing child, 
who talked with you, to the great admiration of 
every beholder, was he of whom the prophet says, 



256 AN EVANGELICAL HISTORY 

** To US a child is born, to us a Son is given: and 
his name sliall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, anfl 
the mighty God." 

For the space of thirty years he lurked in obscu- 
rity in the contemptible village of Nazareth. Who 
would have suspected that the Son of the carpenter 
was himself the everlasting Father . and the Creator 
of all the ends of the earth ! But now the time is 
come when he shews himself unto Israel. What 
venerable Person is he, who, like the ancient EUas, 
wears a hairy garment, and in the villages of the 
wilderness preaches the doctrine of repentance, 
talks of the kingdom of heaven being at hand, of 
the 'Axt to the root, the fan to the wheat, and the 
cnaff tothe fire ? It is the forerunner of Christ '* the 
voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye 
the way of the Lord." See how the multitudes flock 
after him, to his baptism ; even Christ himself con- 
descends to be baptized of him. The hoary Baptist 
wonders that the Master should come to the servant, 
who was not worthy to perform the meanest oflice 
to such an exalted dignitary. But thu€ it became him 
to fulfil all righteousness. Once he was circumcised ; 
to !*anctify the church that then was, to honour the 
divine ordinances, and to testify that he was a debtor 
to do the whole law. And now he is baptized, to 
sanctify the church that is to be, and to confirm his 
faith by this expressive sign in the promise of his 
everlasting Father. For though he needed not the 
washing of regeneration, (as we ;) when he de- 
scended into the baptismal water, it signified the 
large effusion of the Spirit upon his sacred hu- 
maniry, to quahfy him fully for his high and saving 
work. And may we not also think, that when he 
ascended from the consecrated stream, into which 
he went down with willing steps, he was then as- 
sured that in like manner he should lift up his head 
above the waters of adversity, and emerge victori- 
ous from under the billows of his Father's wrath ? 
O Jordan, it was a strange thing thai befel thee, 
when thy waters drove back their course at the 
presence of God, and when Elijah smote them with 
his mantle : but much more s range is this, that he 
who poured them into thy bed, and made the dry 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 257 

land and the fountains of waters, is now washed in 
thy hallowed wave ; while from on high the hea- 
vens are opened, a voice is heard from the excel- 
lent glory, and the Holy Ghost, in the likeness of a 
dove, descends upon him. 

Now let us follow the illustrious Redeemer from 
the banks of Jordan unto the solitary wilderness, 
where Moses the giver, and Elias the restorer of 
the law, fasted forty days, and where the ancient 
Israelites provoked him forty years. There too the 
great fulfiUer of the law, during the space of forty 
days, abstains from food, being supported by a divine 
power, and fed with holy contemplation. But after- 
wards he feels tlie gnawing power of hunger, to ex- 
piate the luxury of Adam in the garden of paradise, 
and to demonstrate the truth of his humanity. When 
lo ! the subtle enemy is permitted to assault his vir- 
tue by sundry ensnaring artifices. But all his efforts 
are baffled by this Captain of our salvation. Think 
it not btrange, O humble soul, if this malicious spirit 
shall tempt with restless importunity, even the 
most atrocious crimes, and shall abuse even the 
sacred oracles to this vile purpose. He came unto 
the glorious head, in all points tempted like as we 
are. But being resisted by the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of God, he betakes himself to 
shameful flight. 

Let us now proceed to trace the most interesting 
steps of our Redeemer's hfe, when he dwelt among 
us in our flesh. And shall we first listen unto him as 
a teacher come fi'om God ? With what inimitable 
authority ! with what irresistible wisdom, impartial 
fi*eedom, undaunted boldness, unwearied diligence, 
burning zeal, with what homely plainness, conde- 
scending humility, tender compassion, amiable 
meekness, long suffering patience, divine delight, 
did he preach righteousness in the great congrega- 
tion! How eloquent! How pathetic! How mighty 
in the scriptures! But who can enumerate all the 
wonderful works which by his own power, and for 
the manifestation of his own glory, he effected ? The 
raging element of water he stills with a powerful 
word, and walks upon its rolling surges. Trees 
withered at his rebuke; fishes have paid Ids tribute, 



258 ^^ EVA^'GELICAL HISTOP.Y. 

How often did he give sight to the blind, hearing 
to the (leaf, speech to the dumb, strength to the 
weak, health to the diseased, purity to the defiled ? 
Even strong death could not retain his prisoners, 
when he gave the high command. Never were 
words so gracious as those he spake. Never were 
works so glorious as those he did. 

Perhaps it might be enquired, in what palace he 
dwelt ? what riches he possessed ? what princes was 
he acquainted with ? But though he calls the silver 
and the gold his own, if he pays tribute, a fish sup- 
plies him with money ; if he rides, he must borrow 
an ass. He built the sky, and had not where to lay 
his head. He prepares the corn, and was fed at the 
table of others. Q poverty I how dost thou expose 
to contempt even the greatest wisdom, and most 
solid virtue, in this degenerate world ! But though 
he wa>. rich, for our sakeshe became poor, and by 
his povertv we shall be enriched. 

The faithless and perverse generation among 
whom he conversed, not content with rejecting his 
heavenly doctrines, blaspheming his miracles, and 
staining his moral character with the most odious 
imputations, arrived at that enofmous pitch of wick- 
edness, as on many occasions to thirst for his blood. 
Sometimes they take up stones to cast at him as 
an abominable wretch, unworthy to breathe the vital 
air ; and sometimes they lead him to the biow of an 
hill, with an impious intention to cast him down, 
though in the vilhige uiiere he was born, and though 
a while before th.cy wondered at the gracious Avords 
that proceeded oiit of his mouth 

Nor was the conclusion of the scene unlike its be- 
ginning. Even to the last we find him a man of sor- 
rows. Is it nothing to you, O ye children of men ? 
Much every way. For by his bloody sweat you are 
purged, by his condemnation you are absolved, by 
his bonds you are loosed, by his death you are 
quickened, and by his stripes you are healed. Nor 
must we regard the last dismal sufferings of the 
Redeemer in the light of an affecting tragedy, but of 
?m evangelical history. 

Already he had made his triumphant, though 
jtowly entrance into Jerusalem, riding upon an a^s, 



QF JESUS CHRIST. 259 

amid die acclamations of the populace, in accom- 
plishment of an ancient prediction. His eye had 
melted witli tender compassion over the bloody city. 
He had eat the last passover, and instituted the new 
solemnity of the supper. Many excellent discourses 
he had made to his sorrowful disciples ; and by the 
significant ceremony of washing their feet, he 
strongly inculcated how by love we should serve one 
another in all humility. But as once we saw him in 
the wilderness, let us now attend him into that gar- 
den of Gethsemane, the scene of his dreadful agony, 
where he trod the wine-press alone, or rather was 
trodden in the wine-press of his Father's wrath, 
where he was in all the misteries of woe, where he 
beheld the angry face of God, and felt the sting 
of death, long sharpened (if we may use the ex- 
pression) upon the stony tables of the law, infixed 
into his very soul. See how he lies all prostrate on 
the ground, and pressed out of measure with an in- 
vihible load, till large red drops of blood issue from 
every opened pore ! What words are these, O Sa- 
viour, that dropped from thy l^ps in this sore and 
bloody conflict, when in the most fervent manner 
thou didst deprecate the bitter cup ? Was it the 
prospect of thy cruel death ? Was it the terror of 
thy crucifixion, that made thee to stand aghast, and 
to shrink back with shuddering horror? O no. Thy 
martyrs have rejoiced even in the sternest tribula- 
tions, have bid defiance to all the variety of torture, 
and resolutely met the king of terrors in his most 
formidable armour. For they beheld the face of God 
cl;id with sweet smiles, while their afflictions did 
abound. But thine it was to know the power of God*s 
anger; according to his fear, so is his wrath. It was 
the burden of our guilt, and it was the lively sense 
of the Almighty's indignation, that filled thee with 
such amazing anguish, and extorted from thy hu- 
man nature confession of distress, in tears and groans, 
and prayers to him that was able to save thee from 
death. 

But he survives the bloody sweat, being strength- 
ened by an angel, and supported by his own divinity ; 
when, lo, the perfidious traitor comes, and dares ap- 
proach to salute with a treacherous kiss those hps 



260 AN EVANGELICAL HISTORY. 

that knew no guile. For the wretched gain of thirty- 
pieces of silver, the price of a slave when pushed 
by an ox that he died, (a goodly price that he was 
prized at by them,) did this miserable sinner betray 
his Lord and Master. O cursed lust of gold! to 
what enormous crimes canst thou urge on the hu- 
man mind ! Rut who are these he brings along with 
him ? Romans and Jews sent from the high-priests. 
** Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine 
a vain thing, to plot against the Lord, and his anoint- 
ed?" Against whom do they come thus equipt with 
swords and staves. — But what is this? — they go back- 
ward, and fall to the ground. — Understand, ye wick- 
ed, that he is able to slay you with the breath of his 
mouth, and cast you down beyond the possibility 
of rising. But his hour is now come — Take him — 
and lead him away. — Let the disciples retire at the 
permission of their Lord. — And thou, Peter, put up 
thy sword — leave vengeance unto God. 

The breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the 
Lord is taken in their pits. Hti is bound like a male- 
factor, who proclaims liberty to the captives? Easily 
could he act the Samson, upon this occ'ision. But 
the justice of his Father forbids it, and the cords of 
his own love, stronger than all fetters, hold him fast. 
Where do they lead him but to the high-priest, as a 
lamb to the slaughter!* — In vain does the conscience 
of Pilate remonstrate the innocency of the pannel. 
In vain does the wife of Pilate dissuade from sangui- 
nary methods, and tell about her ominous dream the 
preceding night. The silly judge, intimidated by the 
threats, and dunned by the incessant clamour of the 
mob, delivers Jesus unto their will, and releases unto 
them the murderer whom they preferred. What bar- 
barous indignities were done unto him, both before 
and after he received his sentence, may justly raise 
our wonder, while they excite our detestation. Lo, 
he is exceedingly filled with contempt, being forced 
to wear the ludicrous ensigns of majesty. His crown 
is a wreath of thorns. His scepti^e a reed. The Judge 
of Israel is smitten with a rod reproachfully. He 
hides not his face from shame and spitting. They 
rest not here, for his back is prepared for the tear- 
ing scourge. In these circumstances of disgrace, 



r 

^ OF JESUS CHRIST. 261 

ne is deni^'d by his cMiiy apostle who had the cou- 
rage to follow him. O Peter, hear you not the wit- 
nesses accusing him falsely ? Is this your kindness to 
your friend ? Where is now your confident boabting ? 
But so it was foretold by Christ, and for ^his let us 
pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. 

Ah how have we made him to serve with our ini- 
quities ! For panting and spent with toil, and covered 
Avith blood and sweat, he bears his cross. ' Kis vi- 
sage is marred more than any man's and his form 
than the sons of men." And now he is arrived at the 
appointed place for consummating this melancholy 
scene. His garments are parted. The assembly of 
the wicked inclose him round. They pierce his 
hands and feet. See how he hangs suspended on the 
racking cross, betwixt the heavens and the earth I 
No fountain relieves his parching thirst ! No angel 
strengthens him from heaven? No Peter draws a 
SAvord in his quarrel! His inexpressible torments 
are not able to command one tear from the unpitying 
spectators, who shake their head at him in cruel 
sconi, wrest his words, and mock his prayers ! Even 
the sun withdraws his light ! t) golden ruler of che 
day. didst thou fly the pain of thy Maker .'^ Or 'vas 
it incensed justice, that arrested thy beams from 
giving light unto the suffering Surety? But more 
horrid was the darkness of his soul, when thou, O 
heavenly Faiher, withheld the pleasing beam.^ of 
thy countenance Persecuted^ but not forsaken^ may 
be the motto of the suffering saint, but not of the 
suffering Saviour. Even in this hour and power of 
darkness he casts not his confidence away, but hav- 
ing commended his mother to a beloved apostle, and 
his ^pirit unto his beloved Father, hebowstht* head, 
and renders up the ghost. The earth quakes. The 
dead arise. The temple rends her vail. Then were 
ye spoiled, O principalities and powers. Then jus- 
tice was satisfied, the law was magnified. The mighty 
work which had employed the thoughts of God from 
all everlasting, and which shall be the subject of the 
most delightful contemplation to all the redeemed 
company world without end, did then receive its 
consummation. 

O that this dying love of God might dwell for ever 



2vS2 A^' EVANGELICAL HISTORY 

In our thoughts, constrain us to every duty, and deter 
us from every sin! Must the Son of God expiate 
with such direful sufferings sin, not his own? What 
then must they endure for their own sins, who refuse 
to learn from their amazing example, the mfinite 
evil of that abominable thing ? 

Great was thy victory, O death, when even the 
Son of God slept in the chamber of the tomb, a 
prisoner of darkness, a pale and ghastly corpse. But 
woe unto us if the gospel history had left him in the 
silent grave. Then had the expectation of the poor 
perished ; then had his promise failed for ever ; then 
had we been still in our sins, unpurged, unpardoned. 
But the third day beheld him emerging from the 
darksome grave. In vain they set a watch, and seal 
the stone. It is not possible he can be held. The 
"Wounds of his body are miraculously healed; the 
separated spirit is re-united by a divine power, be- 
fore he saw corruption; and he arises as a man re- 
freshed with sleep springs from his bed, when tht 
morning shines with a purple radiance. No more 
shall infirmity clog thy flesh, or sorrow cloud thy 
brow, O risen Saviour. No more shall death reduce 
thee under his gloomy power. Thy warfare is ac- 
complished, and thou hast received of the Lord's 
hand double for all our sins. 

O earth, why didst thou quake? and what dis- 
turbed your repose, ye sleeping bones? It was at 
the presence of the God of Jacob, who lately was 
crucified in weakness, but now he is raised in power. 
The earth cast forth her dead. Sleep on ye remain- 
ing prisoners of the dust, a time, a time will come, 
when ye too shall wake and sing, and ascend to meet 
him in the air. Ye living saints, rejoice that death 
is swallowed up in victory. The grave, that hungry 
monster, catching the bait of his humanity, was not 
aware of the hook of his divinity, and swallowed its 
own destruction. Now may we rest in full assurance, 
that all our debt is paid, when by the order of the 
creditor, the Surety is taken from prison and from 
judgment. For lo, a shining minister, whose counte- 
nance is as lightning, and his raiment white as snow, 
descends to roll away the stone from the holy se- 
pulchre ! For fear of him the keepers did shake, 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 263 

and became as dead men. No doubt he was fully- 
able to have removed the stone, who had power to 
lay down his life, and had power to take it up again. 
For even the pillars of heaven tremble, and are 
astonished at his reproof. Bat it was the will of the 
eternal Father, that these excellent and glorious 
creatures round his throne should put this token of 
respect upon their Lord and ours, even in his lowes^- 
humihation. Hail happy day, on which a more glo- 
rious work was finished, than when he planned the 
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth ! May 
that sweet day of sacred rest be the joy of our souls ! 
Then may we often join with God and angels in re- 
membering this most illustious work, a finished 

KEDEMPTION. 

The victory is complete, what remains but the 
Victor shall triumph! The atoning sacrifice is of- 
fered, what remains but that the High-Priest shall 
enter within the vail ? Forty days he converses with 
his disciples, instructing them in the nature of his 
kingdom by his heavenly discourses, and confiraiing 
them in the certainty of his resurrection by his fre- 
quent apparitions. Then does he lead them out as 
lar as Bethany and the mount of Olives. By that 
way he once came to his ignominious cross, and by 
that way he returns to his gloiious crown. And how 
did he employ the last parting moments, but in bless- 
ing his beloved apostles, and assuring them of his 
being ever present with them in the discharge of 
their office, even when they should see him agahi 
no more. 

Could we have stood among that favoured few, 
who witnessed this glorious transaction, then would 
we have seen him slowly ascending from the earth, 
not snatched as Elijah in a whirlwind, till an obedi- 
ent cloud receives him from the sight of the aston- 
ished gazers, who had already seen enough to satisfy 
their faith, " Be lifted up, ye everlasting doors of 
paradise, that the King of glory may come in." List- 
en to the triumphant shout wherewith the blessed 
assembly hailed his arrival. Observe the trophies 
of his victory, the blunted sting of death, and the 
keys of hell and the grave. Great was the pomp, 
thou Sinai didst behold, when the holy One de- 



264 AN EVANGELICAL HISTORY, &c. 

scended on thy top, and out of his right hand went 
a fiery law; but greater doubtless was the pomp, 
when he ascended on high, leading captivity cap- 
tive, after he had magnitied the law, and made it 
honourable. 

Now reign for ever, blessed Lord Jesus, upon thy 
he ivenly throne. For ever shall a crown of glory 
encrcle thy radiant head. No more shalt thou com- 
plain of a sorrowful soul, or a forsaking God. With 
what infinite satisfaction shalt thou for ever revolve 
thy past agonies, and see the travail of thy soul ! 
Obedient angels cast their crowns before thee. With 
thee shall the church militant swell their song even 
in this vail of tears. And unto thee shall the trium- 
phant church ascribe eternal praise, saying with a 
lou'i voice, *' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honour, and glory, and blessing." To join the 
songs on high, may we also in thy due time be 
brought! Amen. 



THOUGHTS 



OJT 



VARIOUS SUBJEerS. 




SIN, thou only evil in which there is no good, 
thou superfluity of naughtiness, thou quintesence of 
-what is odious and execrable, whose nature is en- 
tirely opposite to that of God, and the reverse of 
his holy law, who claimest the devil for thy sire, 
while death, and hell, and misery, confess thee for 
their only parent ! how hast thou troubled all the 
creation ! upon what creatures hast thou not trans- 
mitted thy baleful infiuence ! 

Ye angels of darkness, once the angels of hght, 
how are you fallen ! how changed! how is your fine 
gold become dim ! What plucked you from your 
starry mansions, where you did walk with God high 
in salvation in the climes of bliss? You were the an- 

fels that sinned; therefore you could not keep your 
rst and happy state, but were driven out from God, 
flung from eternal splendours to everlasting horrors. 
The crown is fallen from your head : woe unto us, for 
you have sinned. 

Ye sons of men, once were you blessed with inno- 
cence and peace, in the morning of your existence, 
when our grand parents first lifted to the heavens 
their wondering e3es, and reposed themselves in the 
blissful bowers of paradise, that happy garden, 
planted by the Lord, and fitted out for their recep- 
tion. The understanding was bright as the light. 
The will, all pure and holy, reigned queen of the 
aflFections, and swayed them with a golden sceptre. 
The memory was faithful to his trust, being replen- 
ished only witk good things. And O how peaceful 



266 ON SIN. 

was the conscience! how serene! Nothing unholy 
•was hatched in the heart, or uttered by the lips, 
or manifested by the actions. Disease had not in- 
vaded our body ; death would not have dissolved 
our frame. We should have been strangers to the 
miseries of life, and to the dreary mansions of the 
grave. But sin, that cursed monster, sin hath 
quenched our intellectual light; hath inthi^alled 
the will to vile unruly passions ; hath vitiated the 
memory, tenacious now of evil ; hath banished true 
peace from the conscience. Some are harassed with 
direful apprehensions, and consumed away with 
fearful terrors What multitudes are stretched on 
the bed of pain ! It was sin which bade the head to 
ache, fevers to revel through our veins, convulsions 
shake the human frames, and ague^ agitate our 
bodies. 

See there in that house of mourning t]ie pale and 
ghastly corpse extended on the bed. Descend into 
the silent grave, and view the putrefying flesh, and 
the mouldering bones. Ah ! where are we I To what 
are we reduced ! Is this that heaven-laboured form, 
which wore the divine resemblance ! Yes, yes: *' Sin 
entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so 
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." 

But can we venture lower still in our meditations 
into those di^mial regions, where (xod's mercies are 
clean gone, and where he will be favourable no more? 
Hear how they shriek and roar; see how they toss 
in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ! 
Unhappy beings, what brought you to that place of 
torment ^ We are filled ivith the fruit of our own 
waijs, and are rcapi?ig t/ie wages of sin. Yes; it was 
sin which laid the foundation-stone of your prison, 
and filled it with these inexhausted treasures of 
wrath and indignation. 

Not in the rational creation only we discern the 
fatal evils of this accursed thing. T/ie whole creation 
groaneth and travelleth in fiain together until now. 
Once it died of a dropsy of waters in the days of 
Noah, and shortly will expire in a fever of flames, 
when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, 
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat Even 
now the husbandman, conscious of the sickliness of 



ON SIN. 267 

jiature, acts like physician to the earth. Sometimes 
he opens her veins with the plough, and covers v^^ith 
soil, as with a strengthening plaister; sometimes 
lays her asleep, by sufTeriiig to lie fallow for a timd 
Without these necessary precautions she would re- 
fuse to yield her increase, and cleanness of teeth 
would be in all our borders. 

It is a small thing for sin thus to effect the whole 
creation. The garden of Gethsemane knows, and 
Calvary can tell how sin hath effected even the 

freat Creator. Bread of life, why wast thou hungry ? 
buntain of life, why wast thou thirsty ? Why wast 
thou a man of sorrows, O thou Consolation of Israel ? 
Thou Glory of the human race, wherefore wast thou 
a reproach of men, and despised of the people ? Thy 
visage was more marred than any man, and thy form 
than the sons of men. Sin nailed thee to the cross; 
sin stabbed thee to the heart ; sin, like a thick im- 
penetrable cloud, eclipsed thy Father's countenance 
to thy disconsolate soul ; sin laid thee in a grave, O 
thou resurrection and the life. 

Who would have believed, that the enemy would 
have entered within the gates of the heavenly Jeru- 
salem, pulled angels from the thrones, and brought 
even God himself from his high habitation, from ex- 
cellent glory, from ineffable joys, to poverty and re- 
proacli, to sorrow and tribulation, and to the most 
inglorious death? 

O heavy burden! under whose weight such multi- 
tudes of creatures groan ; which made the mighty 
God, clothed' with our flesh, to sweat great drops of 
blood ; though sinners walk lightly on beneath the 
mighty load. O dreadful plague ? O formidable sick- 
ness ! not to be chased away by a less costly medicine 
than the most precious blood ot Christ, by whose 
stripes we are healed. O deadly poison! even wl^en 
presented in a golden cup, and sweet unto the taste. 
It biteth like a serpent, and stingeth hke an adder, 
and never fails to prove bitterness in the latter end. 
Nor can it be expelled by any other way than lifiing 
up the Son of Man, as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness. O mighty debt, whose payment could 
impoverish him whose is the silver and the gold, who 
" though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. 



263 ON MAN'S misp:ry by six. 

that we through his poverty might be made rich I" 
O ugly stain ! O invetei^ate pollution ! not to be 
washed away by all the rivers that run into the sea. 
In vain we take unto us nitre and much soap . in 
vain we u'-e our most vigorous endeavours to purge 
away our blot. Sooner might the Ethiopian change 
his skin, and the leopard his spots. The only fuller 
that is equal to this mighty work, is he who purges 
.the conscience f'om dead works, to serve the living 
God. The blood of the Lamb is the only purgatory 
that makes you vhiter than the snow. 

When, O when shall I hate thee with a perfect 
hatred, thou worse than deach ! When shall I be 
afraid of thee alone, and be ashamed of thee alone. 
O thing exceeding sinful ! When shall I be delivered 
from thy abhorred dominion ! O when shall thy de- 
structions have a perpetual end ! 



■ • 00000 

ON MAN'S MISERY BY SIN. 



WHO can refrain from tears, whose eye of reason 
hath snatched but a cursory glance of mankind's nu- 
merous ^ oes r* Who but he whose hearr is made of 
stop.e, and is lost to every impression of benevolence ? 
As .ho dancing ^p irk flies upward, so man is born 
unto trouble. Unhappy creatures, that kept not your 
primeval st^te! Full early you revolted from your 
Crea-or God, in who've smile alone your happiness 
migiit dwell. The sparkling crown of innocence is 
fallen from your head. Hence all these fatal evils of 
your race. Ah me ! what ghastly spectres are these ! 
See moon struck madness replenishing the melan- 
choly bedlam, and torturing dt spair, a terror to her- 
scH\ and all arouml her. See there oppression with 
iron hands, and heart of steel ; poverty with her hol- 
low eyes, her tattered garments, and sordid habita- 
tion ; and all the family of pain, who tear the pillow^ 
from beneath our head, while sleep affrighted flies 
from our eye-lids. Shall I mention, in the next place, 



ON MAN'S MISEUY BY SIX. 269 

drudgery with her grievous looks, toiling at the oar, 
or stooping under the burden? Alas? with what la- 
borious efforts do mortals spend their vitals, to gain a 
wretched sustenance for themselves and their tender 
offspring, to be defended from the gnawings of hun- 
ger, and power of chilling cold ! — But who is that 
grizzly tyrant who rides upc«i a pale horse, and 
shakes a dreadful dart ? I know thee who thou art, 
thou king of terrors; 1 know thee by thy clattering 
bones, and by thy dismal train, hell' and the grave, 
which follow hard behind thee. 

What creature is not armed against thee, O man, 
who all espouse their Maker's quarrel ? There are, 
whom the angels of darkness harass with dreadful 
temptations, and still more dreadful possessions The 
angels of light loathe and detest such polluted beings, 
and frequently have been the executioners of direful 
vengeance. I might relate the numerous ills to which 
we are exposed from the inhabitants of air, the 
beasts of the earth, and even the fishes of the sea. 
How hateful to men are the hostile race of scaly ser- 
pents, hi>ssing adders, ravenous lions, prowling wolves, 
hideous and weeping crocodiles ? And even the puny 
race of locusts and caterpillars have scourged guilty 
nations for their crimes. How frequently have lire 
and water, these serviceable elements, made horrid 
insurrections, disastrous to the human race! Popu- 
lous cities, with gilded palaces, and lofty temples, 
have smoked in fiery ruins ; and in old time, the 
dwellings of sinful men were swept away by a wa- 
tery inundation. In vain the shrieking wretches be- 
took themselves for safety to the lofty baitlements of 
houses, the tops of highest trees, or even the summits 
of serial mountains. Hear how the earth groans un- 
der the burden of thy sins? Here she spreads a bar- 
ren wilderness, an idle desert; there lifts a frigh'ful 
ridge of rocks, whence in many places we look down 
with giddy horror. In some countries she belches fire 
and smoke from dreadful volcanoes, tremendous in- 
deed to all who hear, but much more terrible to 
those who live in the neighbouring city, or in the vil- 
lages of the circumjacent plain. Be it so, that these 
awful phenomena of nature, and others, of like 
threatening aspect, bespeak not this our gld3e to be 

z2 



2^0 ON MAN'S MISERY BY SIN. 

the habitation of an accursed race ; what shall we 
say to useless choakiiig weuds and poisonous plants, 
of which she is a wilUng parent, whilst she refuses to 
produce the foodfid grain, unless when much caress- 
ed and impoi tuned? how frequently she disappoints 
our fond hopes, and baulks our expectations. When 
she refuses to yield her increase, then it is we have 
cleanness of teeth in all our borders while pale fa- 
mine walks abroad with her evil arrows. Tne staft* 
of bread is broken, and feeble man totters and falls, 
and dies. At other times she expands her jaws, and 
swallows up alive vast multitudes of rational beings. 
Earthquake, men tremble when thou art but named t 
who can think of thee without horror ? O what dire- 
ful consternation in that dreadful moment ! Whither, 
ah ! whither can they fly from the doleful calamity ^ 
Avert it, Heaven. Execute not thy threatened ven- 
geance upon these guilty lands, and our proud me- 
tropolis. If thou hast a mind to punish us, O visit 
with some milder rod, some gentler minister of 
wrath. — Not the earth alone on which we tread, but 
the air in which we live, and move, and have our be- 
ing, proves deathful to our wretched race. Some- 
times she summons her stormy winds, her roaring 
tempests, and bids them shake the walls of stone^, 
and dash the well-built vessel on the rock. Vain is 
the help of tough cables, and tenacious anchors. 
The mii^htv waters receive at once the valuable 
cargl), and the despairing mariners. How often is she 
infected with the wide wasting pestilence! Then 
death's shafts fly thick, and the hungry grave re- 
joices at the uncommon fare. Yet, ugly monster! she 
never says. It is enough. — But with no greater cala- 
mity can you be visited, ye sons of men, than those 
which claim your own species for their original. Fell 
are the monsters of the Libyan deserts : but not to be 
compared with the abhorred productions of the hu- 
man heart. Hence matchless killing envy, filthy 
slander ; hence persecution with torturing engines, 
war with her odious din, and bloody garments. How 
can you have peace among yourselves, when warring 
with your God } 

Nor is there any period of life wherein we are ex- 
empted from woe. Not even the smiling infant is se^ 



ON MAN'S MJSERY BY SIN. 271 

cured against the most fatal disasters. The miseries of 
childhood are apparent. Affliction spares not the bloom- 
ing youth, nor reverences the venerable old man . Even 
age itself, what is it, an incurable distemper, always 
terminating in death. See how the countenance is 
shrivelled up with wrinkles, the shoulders stoop, 
the hands tremble, the strong men bow themselves, 
and they that look out of the windows are darkened ! 

Neither can any station or condition rescue from 
these incumbent miseries. The rich, tlie honourable, 
and they who swim in tides of pleasure, can bear 
vitness. Why else would Ahab sicken for Naboth's 
vineyard, and Haman lay so sore to heart the refrac- 
tory behaviour of Mordecai ? If treasured riches, if 
sensual delights, added even to knowledge and wis- 
dom, could satisfy the heart, then might ihou Solo- 
mon, enjoyed a heav en upon earth, nor complained 
of vanity and vexation, nor that he who increaseth 
knowledge, increaseth sorrow. Alas? even our 
greatest comforts prove kiUing; and far from issuing 
in contentment we still complain even in large abun- 
dance cf worldly delights. 

What shall we say then to the^e things ?-^ Shall 
wretched mortals abandon themselves to sullen sor- 
row, and hopeless desperation ^ Shall the world be 
turned into a Bochim ? Is it a place where his mer- 
cies are clean gone, and where he will be favourable^ 
no more? Are there not many footsteps of the divine 
benignity, even in this our earthly mansion ? Doubt- 
less there are ; for he hath nc^^t left, himself without a 
witness, that goodness is essential to his nature : he 
bids the earth teem wirh plenty, and the clouds to 
drop with vegetable fatness. There are pleasures of 
sight, of smell, of taste, peculiar to the various sea- 
sons of the revolving year. Many creatures are vet 
subservient to our interest and all the elements are 
made to contribute for our welfare. Far be it from 
high- favoured man, to despise the riches of the .\1- 
mighty's goodness. But O ye everlasting joys which 
the glorious gospel reveals ! what thoughtful being 
would not be discontented with such a world as this, 
without the consideration of you! The distant pros- 
pect of life and immortality is able, and that alone, 
to reconcile the heart to the visible osconomy of God. 



SiA2 ^^ "JHE MISERY OF THE WICKE&. 

Even great and sore affiiction is deemed biit light" 
and vain, because it lasts but for a moment. Eternity 
apart, the mi^ei^ies of life would swallow up the joys* 
But now even these devourers are buried in the ca- 
pacious womb of vast eternity. 

Blessed be thy condescension, O patient Son of 
God» who disdained not to taste the bitter cup of 
grief: grief, not thv own, but ours. And blessed be 
that wisdom, to whose glorious contrivance we are 
indebted for the cup of consolation presented in the 
gospel, which we may drink, and remember our mi- 
sery no more.— By various ways the sons of men have 
tried to extricate themselves from the lamented con- 
sequence of their fall. Games and recreations, arts 
and sciences, yea, many false religions, have been 
invented for this end. Miserable comforters are they 
all! Christianity, it is thine alone to chase our gloom 
of thought, and wipe away our tears? while by thee 
we are directed to dart our thoughts beyond this 
transitory world, this inconsiderable speck of time, 
unto the eternal scene, which shall commence when 
the last trumpet shall be sounded : we no more re- 
pine at the appearance of woe, nor think our light 
affliction worthy to be comfiared with that glory tfiat 
is to be revealed ; while we look not at the t/iings that 
are sneUy but at the things which are not seen ; for 
the tjiings that are seen are temporal but the things 
that are not seen are eternaL 



OQOOO ' 

OX THE MISEllY OF THE WICKED. 



BUT there shall be no reward unto the evil man. 
No reward, did I say ? Nay, if God be just, then he 
will render indignation and wrath ^ tribulation and 
qnguishy to every soul of man that doeth evily with- 
out resfiect of persons. To him belongeth vengeance. 
Though patience may delay, though clemency may 
mitigate, though mercy, grace, and wisdom, may 
transfer the punishment to the person of a Surety; 



ON THE mSEIlY OF THE WICKED. 2T3 

5^et still his wrath must be revealed against all un- 
righteousness and ungodliness of men. 

^Doth not even nature herself teach us, that sin and 
punishment are most inviolably connected ! For even 
barbarians could infer, when they sav/ a viper fasten 
upon the hand of a person whom they knew not, 
after he had escaped a dismal shipwreck ; certainly 
this man ivas a murderer ; for vengeance suffer eth 
him not to live. How often are the wicked consumed 
wit!) fearful terrors, when they can be under no ap- 
prehension of punishment from men ? For they know 
that it is the judgment of God^ that they who do such 
things are worthy of death. Whence are we struck 
with trembling at any uncommon appearances of na- 
ture ? if a storm of thunder and lightning torments 
the air ? if the sun labours in an eclipse ? if a glaring 
comet waves its banner over the nations? Whence 
the terror of apparitions? Whence the forebodings 
of misery after death ? Wh^^nce the prevailing opi- 
nion, even among the ancient Jews, that death was to 
be the consequence of any extraordinary appearance 
of the Deity? Is it not because we are insolvent 
debtors, that we dread the face of our injured Credi- 
tor ? Is it not because we are traiterous rebels, we 
abhor the presence of our offended Sovereign? 
Therefore, with Adam, we hide ourselves from the 
presence of the Lord. And with the widow of Za- 
rephath. we are ready to think that whatever is 
more than common, is a messenger of the Lord of 
hosts to slay us, and bring our sin to remembrance. 
Oft times the guilty conscience will create unto itself 
imaginary horrors, and sinners are in great fear 
where no fear is, while they are apt to say with 
Cain, *' Kvery one that meeteth me, will slay me.'* 
What nation under heaven have not attested the 
truth of this, while they have appeased their gods 
with bloody expiatory sacrifices? And (horrid to re- 
late !) their altars have reeked even with human 
gore : the fruit of the bodv has been given for the 
sin of the soul. Whether the dreadful custom may 
be derived from the mangled tradition of Abraham 
offering up Isaac, or whether our adversary the 
tievil, would, by stirring them up ro such abomina- 
ticfns, insult over the guilt ot their own consciences 



274 ON THE MISERY OF THE WICKED. 

and blindness of their hearts, by aping the sacrifice 
of Christ. Hereby intending to discredit the glorious 
method of salvation ; one thing is certain, that man- 
kind, degenerate as they were, did really judge that 
an expiation was necessary to be made, and that he 
will by 710 7neans clear the ifuilty. And however 
much their foolish heart was darkened as to the 
manner of propitiating the Deity ; yet certainly the 
necessity of it is one /)f the dictates of nature. For 
could we sui>po3e that a sinning creature should 
escape thje righteous judgment of God, and feel no 
effects of his displeasure ; how could it appear that 
he were a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ? 
Would there not be too much reason to say. Every 
one that doeth evil, is good in the sight of (he Lord, 
and he dellghteth in them? and^ Where is the God of 
judgment. How could his lordship and dominion 
over the world be maintained, should he forbear to 
punish the violators of his law ? Is it impossible he 
can be divested of his Sovei*eign rule? or that his 
creatures can throw off all moral dependence upon 
him that made tliem ? So it is impossible but the 
order of punishment must succeed, when the order 
of obedience is disturbed ; and they who burst the 
bajids of the law, must of necessity be bound in the 
cords of affliction. Consider this, and be afraid^ 
ye that forget God, While a method is not fallen 
upon to appease incensed justice, and separate sin 
from your souls ; if God be the righteous Judge of all 
the earth ; if God be the Lord of his creatures ; if 
God be blessed, (O tremble to think it!) you must 
be miserable. As the fire devours the chaff, as the 
flame consumes the stubble; so must you perish at 
his presence. 

But let us hearken to the sacred oracles on this in- 
teresting subject. '* Search ye out of the book of the 
Lord, and see that every obedience receives a just 
recompencc of reward." The flames of Sodom, the 
waters of Noah, the torments of hell, the sufferings 
of Christ, bear witness unto this. O sin. thou hast 
kindled a fire that will burn to the bottom of the 
mountains. *' Behold, he will come with fire, and 
with his chariots, as a whirlwind, to render his anger- 
v/ith fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire ; for 



ON THE MISERY OF THE WICKED. 373 

by fire, and with his sword, will the Lord plead with 
all flesh, and the slain of tlie Lord shall be many." 
Nor can we reasonably blame the bowels of the 
Deity, because he taketh vengeance : for, according 
to Moses, it is a breach of his goodness, that he will 
by no means clear the guilty. According to Joshua, 
it is because he is a holy God, that he will not for- 
give our transgressions. According to David, it is be- 
cause the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, that 
he will rain upon the wicked snares, fire, and brim- 
stone, and a burning tempest ; the portion of their 
cup. But especially, had it been an indifferent thing 
with God to punish, or not to punish the guilty, who 
can persuade us. that he who afflicts not willingly, 
nor grieves the children of man. would take such 
pleasure in bruising his only begotten Son, whom he 
loved ? Was he without necessity exposed to buch 
direful sufferings ? Nay : for God hath set him forth 
to be the profiUiation, to declare — his love ? 1 rue : 
but to declare also his righteousness in the remission 
ofsin^ and that he Tuay be just. 

Blessed be that matchless grace and wisdom, that 
has pro\ided a Lamb for a burnt-sacrifice ; — that 
has found a ransom ; — that has opened a city of 
refuge ; — that has reconciled mercy and truth, and 
righteousness with peace. O that the gracious Re- 
deemer, without whose kindly interposition we had 
better been crushed in the very bud of being, might 
for ever live in our hearts, might for ever be esteem- 
ed above all other beloveds, might for ever be the 
reigning subject to our thoughts, both when we 
wake and when we sleep ! " If we forget thee, O 
blessed Jesus, then let our right hand forget her cun- 
ning. If we do not remember thee, let our tongue 
cleave to the roof of our mouths ; if we prefer not 
thee above our chief joy." O'let us never drink that 
as water, which cost the effusion of thy blood ! Let 
us never have that sweet in our mouths, which ten- 
dered to thy lips the vinegar and gall ! Let us never 
rejoice in that which made thee exceeding sorrowful \ 
nor bless ourselves in that which subjected thee ta 
the ciirse ! nor live in that for which thou died ! 



(sra) 



ON FORGIVEKESS. 

00000 

WHEN the guilt of innumerable evils stares me 
in the face, and angry conscience rouses from her 
slumber ; where shall I fly for refuge ? where shall I 
hide my head ? how lay the grizzly spectres? Ye fa- 
vourite lusts, ye pleasing comforts, ye amusing re-* 
creations, in vain ye lend your aid. Let Cain, vvith 
his hands reeking in blood, betake himself to building 
cities: let Saul attempt to find relief from his unquiet 
mind, in the charms of music, while David touched 
the pleasant harp ; let the drunkard seek for conso- 
lation in his flowing bowl, and jolly companions ; the 
sullen ghosts refuse still to depart, when God calls" 
as in a solemn day his terrors round about. Even 
vows and resolutions, prayers and tears, costly sacri- 
fices, and solemn promises of future amendment, 
cannot recall the departed peace. Let Pagans, with 
horrid rites, seek reconciliation with their fancied 
gods, and peace unto their consciences ; let carnal 
Jews think to have matters adjusted by their cere- 
monial observances, being ignorant of the righteous- 
ness of God ; scourge yourselves to death, ye blinded 
Papists, and waste your carcases to ghastly skeletons, 
by withholding sleep from your eyes, and nourish- 
ment from your mouth ; travel to the remotest climes 
in weary pilgrimages ; it is all in vain. Fools that you 
are, to think you shall have peace, by walking after 
the imagination of your own hearts. ** The way of 
peace you have not known: there is no judgment in 
your goings.'* 

For unto whom should we go but unto thee, O thou 
bleeding Saviour? By thy blood hast thou made 
peace betwixt an offended Deity » and offending mor- 
tals. No cause of death was found in thee. For us 
thou drank the bitter cup. Far be it from us to sub- 
stitute our pretended sincerity, our sorrowful re- 
pentance, or even the more nobler grace of faith, in 
the room of thy satisfactory sufferings, O thou Prince 
of peace \ By thy seasonable interposition, his anger 



ON FORGIVENESS. 27^ 

is turned away ; and now it is a righteous thing with 
God abundantly to pardon. 

Happv, thrice happy they, who come unto God 
by him, whose iniquity is pardoned, whose transgres- 
sion is forgiven. Riches and honours, thrones, crowns, 
and sceptres, cannot greatly add unto their bliss; 
pain and poverty, ignominy and reproach, cannot 
grea»ly diminish their happiness. It is true, O ye fa- 
vourites of heaven, the fact of sin cannot be taken 
away, the desert of sin cannot be removed; yea, 
even its power and dominion shall not be totally de- 
stroyed in your present state of imperfection: hov/- 
ever, there is no condemnation to you that are in 
Christ Jesus. No condemnation for your inherent cor- 
ruption; none for your actual transgressions ; none 
for your past, none for your future provocations. 
Chastised you may be with the rod of a Father, but 
not with the wounds of an enemy. It is God that jus- 
tifieth^ who is he that conde?nneth ? What though 
your sins are many ? he multiphes to pardon. What 
though yom* afflictions are great ? there is no wrath 
in the portion of your cup. Though men should con- 
demn you, God will not ; though devils accuse you. 
they shall not prevail. " No weapon that is formed 
against thee shall prosper, and ever>^ tongue that 
riseth in judgment against thee, thou shalt condemn. 
This is the heritage ol the servants of the Lord : and 
their righteou^^ness is of me, saith the Lord." 

Fly, ye profane, who turn this grace of God into 
lasciviousness. Be awakened ye presumptuous, who 
fondly dream your sins are pardoned, because ye 
have forgotten them, or because ye have felt some 
pangs of conviction, or because judgment is not 
speedily executed against your evil works. How can 
ye be pardoned, who have such slight thoughts of 
the God who bestows, the Saviour who procures it* 
the gospel which reveals it. ^ Ye that are ready to 
perish under the pressure of your iniquities, and ye 
that are of a heavy heart on account of your innu- 
merable transgressions, here is a strong cordial, a 
refreshful draught from the wells of salvation. O 
drink and remember your misery no more. " God 
was in Christ, reconcihng the world unto himself, not 
imputing their- trespasses unto them." 

A a 



278 X Q^ FOUGIVENESS. 

Nor is it vain presumption in you to believe, that 
he in Christ is, at this present hour, pacified towards 
you for all that you have done. Though you have 
been wicked and unrighteous, ihough your sins have 
been of a crimson die, scarlet coloured abominations^ 
the blood of Jesus can wash out the deadly tincture, 
and make you white as finest wool, or virgin snow. 
Was it any difficulty for the Red sea, to cover with 
its naves the numerous host of Egypt, when Pha- 
raoh, with his captains and common soldiers, cha- 
riots and horses, did sink unto the bottom as a stone ? 
No more for the ocean of unbounded love to subdue 
all your iniquities; not the common soldiers only of 
ordinary provocations, but the most grizzly and gi- 
gantic sins. In the presence of his exalted Majesty, 
your persons are but hke the small dust of the ba- 
lance, which is not considerable enough to sway the 
scale, and which the gentlest breath can blow away. 
Just as significant are your sins in presence of his 
pardoning mercy. 

Nor is it with grudge and reluctance the liberal 
God bestows this perfect gift. Once he delighted in 
wrath, when it pleased him to bruise his beloved 
Son. That was his act, his strange act, his work, his 
strange work. Has he no pleasure in the death even 
of the guilty sinner.^ as himself declares; why then 
in the death, the cruel death of the innocent Imma- 
nuel? The reason, the amazing reason, is because he 
delighted in mercy, in mercy to the human race. 
Therefore it pleased the Father to bruise him. 

Glorify God for this mercy, ye pardoned ones. A 
distinguished blessing it is, which will not accent the 
song of angels, but of the redeemed from among the 
human race. Rejoice not that your wealth is in- 
creased, that your circumstances are prosperous, but 
that your iniquity is pardoned. Fear the Lord and 
his goodness, and walk humbly with thy God 

Reject not the counsel of God against your own 
souls, you who have not yet fled for refuge unto this 
hope set before you, as you would not rob God of his 
glory, nor yourself es of peace. Will you neglect this 
great salvation ? will you say unto the Almighty, de- 
part from us, thy gifts be to thyself.^ Cursed shall 
^ e be of the Lord, whose glory it is to pass over a 



ON FAITH. 279 

transgression. The Lord Jesus Christ shall subscribe 
thy condemnation, and all the holy angels shout iheir 
applause. Amen, says the church militant ; Amen, 
the church triumphant. ** In returning and rest 
should you been .saved, in quietness and confidence 
should have been your rest : but you would not 
hear." Lo ! there the men who made not the Lord 
their confidence, who robbed the Lord of his glory, 
and would not be beholden to him for the pardon of 
their iniquities. Behold the time of their visitation is 
come, and where shall they fly for help ? If in this 
manner a man sin against the Lord, who shall en- 
treat for him ? They would not take hold of his 
strength, they would not make peace, they would 
not consider any of his ways. See now the red right 
arm of vengeance takes hold of the glittering sword 
of justice. A sword, a sword is furbished with the 
oil of mercy, that was depised and affronted. See 
how he cleaves their reins asunder, and breaketh 
them with breach upon breach. Merciful Lord ! it is 
a fearful thing to fall in thy hands; when thou art 
angry, the nations shall not be able to abide thy in- 
dignation. Make us wise unto salvation, to know the 
things that belong to our peace, and to fly to our 
strong hold, while we are the prisoners of hope. 




HAPPY the man who lives in mortal flesh a life 
of faith upon the Son of God. Though he dwells not 
in the gilded palace, he has the Most High for his 
habitation. Though his food be homely, he fares de- 
liciously every day upon the hidden manna. For, O 
that noble gift of God ! he m whose heart she dwells, 
is at once possessed of riches, and honours, and plea- 
sures. Let others curiously dispute where j^he re- 
sides ; in what faculty, in the understanding or the 
will; be it my exalted privilege to have her formed 
Jn my sowl. The mountains may depart, the hills 



280 O^ FAITH. 

may be removed, the solid earth, with the surround- 
ing heavens, may pass away , but her foundations are 
everlasting. Sooner shall chaos come again, and God 
deny himself; sooner shall the natural and the moral 
world be tossed into confusion, than that should fail 
by which she is supported. Great is that revenue of 
glory she brings unto her God, whether she trembles 
at the threatening, or relies upon the promise, which 
he hath spoken in his holiness ; but most of all when 
her main object Christ is before her eyes, as the Sa- 
viour from sin and wrath. When angels circle the 
throne of God with heavenly anthems, and yield the 
most unspotted obedience to the divine law, they 
glorify their Maker. But when by her the guilty 
self-condemned wretch devolves upon the Lord the 
burden of innumerable sins, and trusts for pardon of 
them all, this is glory to God in the highest. Though 
each obediential act is for the praise of God, and glo- 
rifies some one perfection of his nature, it is hers to 
render him the glory of them all. 

As reason is superior to sense, so faith has the 
pre-eminence over reason. Be reason reverenced in 
matters that are within her sphere; but when she 
ventures into the deeps of God, the seas where faith 
has all the sovereignty, when acting like herself, she 
lowers her sails. As sense would seem to tell us 
many things which reason contradicts, so faith will 
rectify the fond mistakes of reason; nor ought she be 
dissatisfied. Faith only shuts the eye of reason, not 
picks it out. Nor these alone submit themselves be- 
fore this noble grace, even other her fellow-virtues 
do obeisance. Though, as a gracious quality, she 
stands upon a level with the rest yet as an instru- 
ment, she far excels in glory. She cannot boast in- 
deed of her intrinsic worth, but of the post of honour 
which she fills by Heaven's appointment. She only is 
the general receiver of all the blessings of the gos- 
pel. By her we call Heaven's rich unfathomable 
mines our own. Because she humbleth herself, there- 
fore hath God highly exalted her, and given her a 
name above every grace. Even charity herself is 
only greater in duration ; for she abideth when faith 
shall fail as to its actings, and die, like Moses, in the 
mount. Such is her humble nature, that even the 



OK FAITH. 281 

jealous God, who will not give his glory to another, 
even he is found to give his glory unto her. We are 
saved by faith, we are justified by faith, she faith- 
fully returns the glory to her object. He hath re- 
farded the low estate of his handmaid, because 
imself has said, ** Them that honour me, I will 
honour." 

Though weak in herself, she is strong in the Lord, 
her very weakness is her strength. She overcomes 
the Devil, and the world, and the flesh. She binds up 
the arm of vengeance, and wields the arm of omni- 
potence. The creature is not able to resist her, and 
the Creator will not. She says unto this mountain of 
difficulty, '* Be thou removed, and cast into the sea." 
She subdues kingdoms of lusts, quenches the violence 
of the lire of wrath, stops the mouth of the infernal 
lion, and escapes the edge of the sword of angry jus- 
tice. When other graces quit the field, her own arm 
brings salvation. What shall I say more ^ *' If thou 
canst believe, all things are possible." 
^ Such is her strength, no wonder she is bold as a 
lion, though timorous and distrustful of the creature. 
Confiding in the Lord, she is not afraid to venture 
into the holiest of all. She plays upon the hole of the 
asp, and thrusts her hand into the cockatrice's den. 
** O death, where is thy sting?" she says with bold 
<iefiance. W^hen presumptuous unbelievers are bu- 
ried in the mighty waters, like the Egyptian host, 
she passes through the foaming waves triumphant. 
There is none like her in all the earth, who is made 
without fear. 

Though poor in herself, she makes many rich with 
the treasures of eternity. She is not afraid of the 
snow for her household ; for all her household are 
clothed in the scarlet robes of everlasting righteous- 
ness. Justly she is denom'matQd flrecious faith, when 
she interests us in precious promises, and applies 
unto the conscience precious blood. 

There are indeed who think her blind and head- 
long ; yet is she a sharp sighted grace. She compre- 
hends the love of Christ that passeth knowledge. 
Doctrines, which to the natural man are foohshness, 
and events that have no present existence, are 
realized bv her. •' She is the evidence of things not 

A a 2 



282 ON FAITH, 

seen, the substance of things hoped for/' though 
ever so remote in time or place. She is a kind of 
second sight, not merel)^ to behold spectacles of hor- 
ror, ghosts, and apparitions ; but the King in his 
beauty, the land that is afar off, the things that are 
not seen, that are eternal. 

It is true, her strength is to sit still, to look on, 
Avhile the Lord himself doth wonderously. Like the 
lilies of the field, she toils not, neither does she spin. 
— And certain bold blasphemers have talked of our 
most holy faith, as though she were no friend to 
works of righteousness. Impossible! Absurd I for all 
good works, without exception, are her dear off- 
spring, which issue from her pregnant womb. These 
are her children which praise her in the gates. And 
she may say in truth, with the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, I laboured more abundantly than all (he other 
graces. Do wc make void the law through faith ? 
God forbid : nay, ive establish the law. 'the law as 
a covenant she makes not void: for she presents the 
perfect righteousness of Christ, which answers every 
legal charge. And though she strips the law, to all 
who have her, of the old covenant form, she turns it 
to a rale of life, and supplies the believer with most 
effectual motives to all holy obedience. No work of 
God can be acceptably performed, till once you have 
beheved. This is his prime command, and your most 
necessary duty, '* For without faith it is impossible 
to please God," by anv doing, or by any suffering. 
By faiih \braham offered up Isaac his first-born son ; 
and by faith the children of Abraham put the knife 
unto the throat of their most favourite lusts. 

But. ah ! How few are there among the sons of 
men who can lay claim to this invaluable grace! 
Though all her ways are pleasantness and peace, 
great is the opposition, by all the powers of corrupt 
nature, unto this heavenly virtue. The bigotted Pa- 
pist, will rather undergo the drudgery of dismal su- 
perstition. The blinded Pagans will rather choose to 
embrue their hands in the blood of their own off- 
spring. The perverse Jew, descended from Abra- 
ham, only according to the flesh, will rather yield 
their servile necks to the old galling yoke of anti- 
quated ceremonies, than be at all induced to submit 



ON TRUSTING IN GOD. 283 

unto the righteousness of faith. They know not, nor 
will understand the nature of this exalted grace. 
Though even in matters of this world, all know that 
tinist is no uncommon thing. The husbandman, at 
the return of spring, is not afraid to sow in hope, 
when he commits the foodful grain unto the furrows 
of the field : ** For his God doth instruct him to dis- 
cretion " They who go down to the sea in ships, re- 
pose such confidence in their floating vessels, as not 
to be afraid to trust themselves, and all their worldly 
riches, unto the rnercy of the boisterous waves. Why 
is it that so few will venture their eternal all, and 
their temporal felicity, unto the faithful word of pro- 
mise ? The man who sows his grain in the furrow, is 
frequently disappointed of his hopes. And many a 
time the loaded vessel becomes a prey to the unpity- 
ing elements of water. But ** he that believeth shall 
not be ashamed, world without end." 



— 00000 . 

ON TRUSTING IN GOD, 



HE that trusts in the Lord with all his heart, does 
not indeed expect that God will do that for him 
which he has never promised ; far less that he will 
be favourable unto him, in what is contrary to his 
revealed will. But, first, he sees that his matters are 
good and right ; and then he commits the keeping of 
his soul unto the faithful Creator; who is a buckler 
to them alone that walk uprightly. 

If he is called of God to any difficult duty, for 
which he finds himself unequal, he persuades him- 
self, that God will command his strength, and work 
in him both to will and to do of his good pleasure : 
and out of weakness he is made strong. 

He will not indeed presume on the divine protec- 
tion, when rushing headlong into dangers evidently 
foreseen, without necessity; as though the almighty 
were obliged to suspend for him the laws of nature, 
and be prodigal of his miraculous operations. For 



284 ^^ TRUSTING IN GOD. 

even the Son of God himself would not tempt his 
loving Father, by casting himself down from the pin- 
nacle ; though, as the bold impostor told him, the an- 
gels had in charge to keep him in all his ways. But 
let him hear the voice of God, and conscience. 
•' This is the way, walk ye in it ;" though he should 
pass through fire and water, he laughs at fear, and is 
not greatly moved by the most ghastly appearances 
of danger. Though war should rise against him, and 
death, with sable wings, should hover round his 
head ; yet will he fear no evil. For ** thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace, O God," whose mind is stayed 
on thee, because he trusteth in thee. 

The perfections of the Godhead are the chambers 
of safety wherein he hides himself. That everlasting 
strength, for which nothing is too difficult ; — that 
matchless goodness, that extends itself even to the 
birds of the air, and lilies of the field; — that perfect 
immutability, that excludes all variableness and sha- 
dow of turning, that inviolable veracity, by which it 
is impossible for God to lie ; — that exact omniscience, 
from which no want can be hid; — that incomprehen- 
sible wisdom, which can make all things work toge- 
ther for his own glory, and our good ; the promises 
of the word, and all the experiences of the saints ; 
these are his sure foundations on which he builds 
his trust. 

If he himself has found the eternal God his refuge, 
experience worketh hope. As he hath delivered, 
and doth deliver ; he trusts in God that he will yet 
deliver. If he has recourse to his ov/n experiences, 
and finds no light from that quarter, he searches out 
the book of the Lord, and finds that never were the 
righteous forsaken. If friends proved faithless, or 
unable to afford him any rehef in the day of calamity, 
enemies shall befriend. Even Philistines and Chal- 
deans shall entreat him well in the evil day. Did all 
human rehef fail, and vain was the help of man ; then 
God has made a friendly covenant for him with the 
beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fishes 
of the sea. Ravens shall feed him ; bears shall 
avenge his quarrel ; and monsters of the deep afford 
a sate retreat. Fishes have supphed his wants, and 
dogs have proved physicians to his sores. If the ani- 



ON TRUSTING IN CHRIST. 285 

nial creation failed, the dead and lifeless creatures 
have come into his interests. The roaring waves di- 
vide to give him passage : and for his sake the fierce 
element of fire forgets its burning power. If neither 
men, nor beasts, nor elements, appeared to his aid ; 
numbers of mighty angels encamp around, and de- 
liver him But chiefly God has been a never-failing 
refuge, when neither friends, — nor foes,— nor beasts, 
—nor elements, — nor angels,— nor any other crea- 
ture, have interposed for their safety. '' Thou hast 
been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy 
in his distress ; a refuge from the storm, a shadow 
from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones 
was as a storm against the wall." 

Whilst he, by thi« believing confidence, gives glo- 
ry to God, a full reward is given by the God of Is- 
rael, under whose wings he trusts. No anxious cares 
about this world's good things, no dispiriting fears 
about its evil things, shall be able to disturb his re- 
pose. He is careful for nothing that can befal his 
mortal bod\ , his civil reputation, or his worldly ac- 
commodations. Having devolved all his cares upon 
the great Jehovah, commended to him his p» esent 
and future interests, he lies down, and his sleep is 
sweet unto him. His flesh shall rest in hope, even in 
the clay-cold bed of the grave. His righteousness is 
brought forth as the light. Surely the Lord will make 
perfect what concerneth him. " O Lord of hosts, 
blessed is the ruan that trusteth in thee." 



'00000- 



ON TRUSTING IN CHRIST. 



NOR is it less our duty to trust in thee, O almighty 
Saviour of sinners, who savest us not by bow, nor by 
sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horse- 
men, nor by might and power, but by thy blood 
which thou shed, and by thy Spirit which thou pour- 
est down. Surely shall one say^ In the Lord have I 
righteousness and strength. For he shall be enabled 



'JS6 ^^ TRUSTING IN CliRIsr. 

to discern all other grounds of trust to be but arma 
ofilesh, — but lies and vamties,~but spiders' webs.—* 
but perishing gourds,-^but foundations that shall 
be overflown with a flood ; whilst he that puts his 
trust in the Lord shall be safe, and shall inherit hi^ 
holy mountain. 

I'hough his distinguished privileges should be like 
those of Capernaum, that was exalted up into heaven, 
he confides not in the temple of the Lord, but in the 
Lord of the temple. Though he could boast an illus- 
trious descent from the venerable Abraham; or 
claim kindred, according to the flesh, with Jesus 
Christ himself; he would not on that account think 
himself entitled to the divine regard.— Though he 
should find much worldly substance ; he will not say 
to gold. Thou art my hop,e, nor to fine gold, thou ar$ 
my confidence; as though the Almighty 'svould 
esteem his riches ; or as though they could be pro- 
fitable in the day of his wrath. — ^Though he should 
equal Haman in the deepness of his exercise, and 
Paul in the abundance of revelation ; he would not 
reckon it expedient for him to glory. — Though for 
the cause of Christ he should even pour his blood ; 
yet by the blood of the Lan^ would he overcome ; 
yet in the blood of the Lamb (and not his own) would 
he wash his robes, and make them white. — Though 
his gifts should be eminent, his knowledge clear and 
extensive; — though in the sweetness of his natural 
temper he should be like a Moses ; and a Paul, in 
the blamelessness of his life, touching the righteous- 
ness of the la:iv ; though his profession were ever so 
strict, and his reputation ever so fair; — in a word, 
though he should shed many tears, pour many pray- 
ers, endure many hardships, make many vows, form 
many resolutions, and exert the most vigorous en- 
deavours in working out his own salvation : yet all 
these things he counts but loss and dung, that he 
may win Christ, and be found in him. Though the 
saving grace of God should be implanted in his heart, 
he is not strong in the grace that is in himself, but in 
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. His justifying 
xnerit is the alone ground of his confidence for the 
pardon of his guilt ; his sanctifying Spirit for van- 
quishing the power of his inbred corruption. AH 



ON HOLINESS. ^87 

other confidences he rejects, because the Lord hath 
rejected them. No tempest shall be able to batter 
down his walls ; his foundation never shall be razed ; 
his confidence shall never be rooted out of his taber- 
nacle, but shall have a recompence of reward. " O 
blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and 
whose hope the Loi d is : for he shall be as a tree 
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her 
roots by the river, and shall not see when heat 
Cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be 
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease 
from yielding fruit." 



00000 

ON HOLINESS. 



O DIVINE holiness, or shall we call thee by the 
name of goodness, or righteousness, or uprightness, 
with what praises shall we extol thee ! Tiiou^art the 
brightest ornament of the universe ; more beauteous 
than the stars of light, or than the roses that strew 
the footsteps of the spring. The sun himself caji 
boast no glory in thy presence. 

Thou art the darling attribute of the Deity, the 
brig;htest pearl of Jeuovah's crown. Without thee 
an ichabod were written on every other perfection. 
Adieu to his wisdom ; farewell to his blessedness ; 
the absolute perfection of his nature is no more. 
Thou art that beauty of the Lord, which, above all, 
the saints of the Most High are debirous of beholding. 
In no perfection he more rejoices. By this he sweats. 
With thee the angels swell their notes, when witl\ 
covered feet, because of shame, and faces vailed, 
because of reverence, they surround his throne. 
Holy^ /loly, holy is the Lord of hosts, they cry, the 
whole earth is full of his glory. Omniscience is his 
piercing eye, omnipotence his powerful arm, and 
mercy is compared to his yearning bowels ; but holi- 
ness is like the face and visage of the Godhead. 

Consalt we the sarred oracles, what attribute mor^ 



288 ON HOLINESS. 

t 

conspicuous in every description of the Almighty ? 
Read we the volume of creation, he is holy in all his 
works , tlie volume of providence, he is righteous in 
all his ways, of mercy and of judgment Search and 
see. if ihere are not very distinguishing marks of 
the divine regard to holiness, in every providen ial 
way. ' Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with 
him : but woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with 
hinj." Witness, ye angels of darkness, and ye 
damned spirits, attest this truth. The righteous 
JLord loveth righteousness which God hath written 
to your dreadful experience in fiery flames. O earth, 
wherefore dost thou groan, but because thou art the 
habitation of the ungodly ? And wherefore did the 
fiery deluge destroy your pleasant dwellings, ye ci- 
ties of the plain. Ye justified believers, whose trans- 
gression is forgiven, your Surety felt the effects of 
that hatred of sin which you should have expe- 
rienced. Not all the vials of his vengeance poured 
on the heads of sinful men and angels, can half so 
loud proclaim the holiness of God, as the sufferings 
of the innocent and lovely Jesus ; who therefore is re- 
presented, by an inspired writer, when testifying be- 
fore hand of the sufferings of Christ, to turn his me- 
ditation upon the holiness of him that inhabits the 
praises of Israel, when grappling with dreadful ven- 
geance due to our iniquities! "My God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me ?" why art thou so far 
from helping me? Am I not the Son of thy love? 
have I not done always the things that pleased thee ? 
why dost thou hide thy face? "why dost thou count 
jne for an enemy, and deal with me as I were an 
egregious transgressor ? But what do I say ? 1 am the 
Surety of lost sinners, by my Father's commission, by 
my own consent. My sufferings are just, are neces- 
sary from the holiness of thy nature ; and fo' this 
amazing trarisaction thou shalt rejoice in the praises 
of Israel to all everlasting 

As every disobedience receives a ju^t recompence 
of reward ; so his countenance doth behold the up- 
right : he will bless the righteous, and compass them 
with his favour as with a shield. O bles>ed Jesus, 
thou loved righteousness^ a?id hated iniquity^ and 
God, even thy God, did for this cause anoint the- 



ON HOLINESS. 289 

nvith the oil of gladness abot^e thy fellows. And what 
are all the blessings of the followers of the Lamb, 
from the smallest crumb, to the ponderous crown of 
glory, but the reward of holiness; the reward of 
grace to their implanted, of debt to their imputed 
righteousness ? Yea, even in the place of punishment, 
where he will be favourable no more, the kind re- 
gards of God to goodness and morality will be de- 
monstrated. Those who, though far from righteous- 
ness were not so vicious as others, shall wear a 
lighter chain, than their fellows who have been 
guilty of more atrocious crimes. 

Ye sons of men, how long will you love vanity! how 
long will ye turn this glory into shame ? Lovely per- 
fection, how much art thou despised in the world ! 
How rarely to be found in the land of the living, 
whether we search for thee in city or in country, in 
the lofty palace, or in the humble cottage ! How 
small the number of thy votaries ! This man affects 
to be learned, that to be polite, and another to be 
witty, but few to be holy in all manner of conversa- 
tion. Yet are thy pleasures pure, and without alloy. 
" Thy ways are pleasantness, and all thy paths are 
peace." How greatly they reproach thee, who draw 
thy picture in robes of melancholy and looks of dark 
disquietude. Whether thou leadest thy favourites by 
the still waters of meditation, or bring them to the 
house of prayer, or makest them lie down in the 
green pastures of ordinances ; thy joys are joys in- 
deed, which nothing earthly gives, or can destroy. 
Joys that will abide the test, nor flush the cheek of 
shame, nor render pale with guilt. Under thy kindly 
influence, what pleasing exercise is afforded to every 
rational power ! In those happy moments, the sou), 
and all tliat is within us, is stirred up to magnify and 
bless his holy name, and all our bones to say. Who is 
like unto thee ? Nor can the countenance dissemble 
the heart- felt satisfaction. As the blaze of crackling 
thorns, diff*ers from the light of the day, sent from 
the sun's bright orb ; so cStfer worldly pleasures from 
divine. These leave behind no stuigs of fierce re- 
pentance, can greatly triumph over death, and ask 
the grave. Where is thy victory ^ 

When thou withdrawest thv footsteps, the wodd 
Bb " 



290 CHRIST COMPARED TO THE SUN. 

is out of joint, and all its foundations are out of 
course. Angels are turned into devils, and heaven 
is turned into hell. For the retrieving of thy injured 
honour, the Son of man came down from his exalted 
throne, and, in the likeness of sinful flesh, stained 
the cross with his blood. For the advancement of 
thy interest, the word of God was written, and the 
exceeding great and precious promises are left unto 
us, that by these being made partakers of the divine 
nature, we may cleanse ourselves from all filihiness 
of the flesh and spirit. And that our souls may be 
adorned with thy glorious beauty, the Holy Ghost 
descends into our hearts. 

By thee the righteous is more excellent than his 
neighbour, and the beggar with whom thou dwellest, 
more honourable than the king upon the throne. 
When the heavens, shall vanish away like smoke, 
and the inhabitants of the earth shall die. thoupass- 
est over unto eternity, where God hath prepared 
for thee a glorious habitation. When time and fair 
creation are perhaps forgot, thou shalt beam forth 
in amiable effulgence, and become an eternal ex- 
cellency. 



'00000* 



€HRIST COMPARED TO THE SUN. 



SEE there the glorious ruler of the day, who re- 
joices as a strong man to run a race ! How univer- 
sal is his influence ! How rapid and how constant 
is his motion ! That heavenly Lamb has blazed for 
multitudes of ages in the blue vault of the firma- 
ment. Empires have arisen and decayed, populous 
cities have been laid in ashes, without any trace 
now remaining of their ancient dignity and grandeur. 
All these revohitions havel^een beheld by this bright 
eye of the world, without any visible diminution, or 
material alteration. 'I'he self same sun no\v cheers 
us with his beams that arose upon former genera- 
tioiis ; and will administer the same consolation unto 



CHRIST COMPARED T?) THE ^UN. 291 

Others, when we shall be laid in the dust. Whether 
shall we most admire the beauty or the usefulness 
of this resplendent luminary ? Not a more beaute- 
ous creature did ever drop from the creating hands 
of the Al^nighty. To this bright orb we are indebted 
for cheerful hght, and genial warmth. Without his 
powerful aid, we should for ever mourn under the 
frown of hideous darkness, and pine away under the 
pijercing rage of winter. The rivers would be har- 
dened into ice, and the mountains covered with 
eternal snow. Who could live in his cold ! Were it 
not for his beneficial influence, our eyes would not 
be charmed with sight of vernal bloom, or summer's 
rose ; our nostrils would not be saluted with the 
sweets of the garden, our taste would not be regaled 
with the fruits of the autumn, and golden treasures 
of the harvest. It is this which makes the melan- 
choly desert to rejoice, the fields to smile, the little 
hills to sing. When he rejoices in his east, how do 
the cheerful birds hail his arrival ! And even the 
clouds of melancholy are dispelled from the human 
jnind. Fair in himself, he beautifies all nature's 
works. He paints the flowers of the spring, he 
clothes in sunny robes the rose and the lily, he tips 
with gold the morning and the evening clouds, and 
in the day of rain the bright etherial bow derives 
from hjm that inimitable brightness which charms 
the eye of gazing multitudes. 

Fair looks the sun, and fair the morning ray ; but 
not to be compared with the beauty of the Lord, 
which above all things the sanctified soul is desirous 
of beholding. O thou who wast dead, and yet alive 
again, who livest forever, thou brightest Sun of righ- 
teousness, that shined in the church from the most 
early ages, that existed before the da,y spring knew 
his place, and that wilt be unto thy people for an 
everlasting light, who shall declare thy matchless 
beauty, thy dazzling splendour, thy universal influ- 
ence ! When we essay to lift our weak and sickly 
eyes to thee, we ar^ not able to take a steady view 
of the incomprehensible glory of thy mysterious Per- 
son ; for thou dwellest in the darkness of too much 
light. By thee is life and immortality brought to 
light; and were it not for thy directive ^ay, who 



J92 CHRIST COMPARED TO THE SUN. 

should guide our feet in the way of peace ? We no 
more need to wander in uncertainty, nor is the 
§rave a frightful prospect unto dying mortals. In thy 
light O let me walk, and in thv light work my own 
salvation. O warm my cold affections, and melt my 
frozen heart with thy all powerful beam. Inkindle 
such a flame as many waters cannot quench. In vain, 
ye gospel mihisters, ye stars in the firmament of the 
church, in vain ye shed your feeble rays, when he, 
the Fountain of your day, refu'ses to arise. Ye twink- 
ling sparks of worldly comforts, you cannot drive 
away the night of melancholy from our dejected 
spirits ; but when he scatters his rays, and shews 
his face, O how the shadows fly away ! 

Then cheerfulness and joy returns unto the soul, 
and the voice of melody is heard in the tabernacles 
of the righteous. " The flowers appear in the earth, 
the time of the singing of birds is come." But when 
he hides away his face, ah ! what withering of the 
^ul ! Then, ye trees of righteousness, the planting 
of the Lord, that he may be glorified, resign your 
blooming pride, and your branches are not loaded, 
as usual, with the fruits of righteousness. 

When clouds and darkness are round about us, in 
the dark day of tribulation and affliction, what dire- 
ful gloom would overspread our souls, but that this 
kindly Son of righteousness stamps on our blackest 
clouds a glorious brightness. It is the bow in the 
cloud, which makes our darkness smile. 

Dreadful was that eclipse which thou didst labour 
under O thou light of the world, when offering up 
thyself through the eternal Spirit. From the hiding 
of the Father's face, from the frown of his angry 
countenance, wast thou shorn of thy rays. Arraigned 
before an earthly tnbunal, condemned with injustice, 
wounded with ignominious scourges and piercing 
thorns, and crucified with unutterable agony ; I see 
thee descending into the grave. The rocks, the flinty 
rock, had con j passion upon thy piteous sufferings, 
nor could the sun conceal his* indignation : for in 
that hour and power of darkness, he laid aside his 
bridegroom attire, and clothed himself in sackcloth. 
Red and bloody was thy setting, in the evening of 
thy mortal life ;' but glorious thy arising, in the morn- 
ing of thy resurrection. 



CHRIST COMPARED TO THE St'N. 293 

For US, not for thyself, thou wast eclipsed in such 
bloody sufferings, that ye might not forever dwell in 
the dark regions of the shadow of death. Shine thou 
forever, blessed Jesus, in the firmament of the 
church, and in the firmament of my soul. Who shall 
pluck thee from thy sphere, or arrest thee in thy pro- 
gress ? Not all the powers of hell, nor the united 
force of inward lusts, and strong corruptions. Arise 
upon the darkened nations with healing in thy wings, 
and chase away ignorance and delusion by the bright- 
ness of thy coming. 

Blessed are those happy people on whom thou 
spreadest thy cheerful light, who triumph in thy 
beams, and solace themselves under thy genial 
warmth. But, ah 1 how many times thy rays are in- 
tercepted by the moon of a present world interpos- 
ing itself betwixt thee and us ! How frequently the 
cares, how frequently the comforts of this life, lie 
too near in my heart, and show big in my eye, 
and hide thy cheerful face from my soul ! How often 
have the clouds of prevailing iniquity, reiterated 
provocations, covered the face of my mind, and 
bolted out the day! O scatter thy victorious rays 
abroad, and chase them from thy sky ! Blot out as a 
cloud my transgressions, and as a thick cloud my 
sins, by the rays of thy justifying righteousness, and 
sanctifying influences. 

Bless the Lord, ye highly iavoured, who bask in 
his rays, and walk in the light of his countenance. 
God is the Lord which hath shelved us light : bind 
ye the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the altar. 
For through the tender mercies of God, the day 
s firing from on high hath visited us. Walk in the 
light while you have it ; and remember the days of 
darkness, you know not but the^y shall be 7na72y. 

O ye that slumber upon your beds, and waste 
your golden season of grace in indolent repose ! 
Awake, arise, go forth, and behold him coming 
forth of his chamber as a bridegroom. The darker 
ness is past, the shadows are fled, the wild beasts 
have now retired to their dens, the birds of para- 
dise rejoice, and the voice of gladness is heard in 
Immaiiuel's land. Now is the time for the traveller 
ro glory, to pursue his journey to the better country. 

B b2 



294 CHRIST THE SAINT'S PATTERN. 

S^iortly the night cotneth wherein no man can work 
<5r walk ; a night that will not know the dawning of 
the day. *' Awake thoa that sleepest, and arise from 
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." 



WQOO- 



CHRIST THE SAINT'S PATTERN. 



THE imitator of Jesus Christ is one, who being 
interested in him as his propitiation, cannot But 
choose to follow him as his pattern ; for he knows, 
that though it be not the only or principal end, why 
the Son of God was manifested, it is, however, a 
very considerable part of his errand, in visiting these 
regions of mortahty, to give us a fair transcript, and 
a living copy of all those graces and duties that are 
pleasing unto God, and that are commanded in the 
law. He reverences indeed the footsteps of the flock, 
and blesses God for the holy examples of living and 
dead saints, which are noble incentives to piety, and 
a devout conversation. But still he regards the holi- 
est examples of living and the dead saints, as but 
imperfect models of duty, some of their actions 
bemg evidently sinful, and others of them doubtful 
and suspicious. Jesus Christ he considers as the only 
finished pattern of obedience, in whose presence 
Moses is not meek, Solomon is not wise. Job is not 
patient, David is not upright, Abraham is not strong 
in faith, Elijah is not zealous, and Paul, the labour- 
ing apostle, is not diligent. His fellow saints, and 
those who have gone before him, may indeed sur- 
pass him in what he actually attains unto, but not 
in what he aims at. He knows, that the finer the 
copy is, the fairer will be the learner's hand ; there- 
fore he sets the Lord alway before him. To follow 
the steps of Christ alone, is far more eligible in his 
esteem, than to go in the way of the world, or follow 
tjie multitude to do evil. And how can it be other- 
wise, when he considers that the example of Christ 
is the example of his best friend, his glorious Head, 



CHRIST THE SAINT'S PATTERN. 295 

his great Lord and Master, his leader and com- 
mander, the shepherd and bishop of his soul, the 
captain of his salvation, and the author of his high 
and heavenly calling ? 

He reckons it a far more glorious and honourable 
attainment to resemble his blessed Saviour in holi- 
ness and obedience to the will of God, than though 
he could be like him in the power of working mira- 
cles ; a power which has been in some measure im- 
parted to the workers of iniquity. 

These most invaluable books, the gospels of Mat- 
thew, Mark, Luke, and John, that contain the sacred 
memoirs of the life of Jesus, he prefers before all 
other biography. These venerable histories he pe- 
ruses night and day, not merely with the eye of a 
critic, that he may understand their sense, and dis- 
cover their beauties ; but with the eye of a painter, 
who gazes at a fine picture, that he may imitate the 
artist's delicate designs, that he may go' and do like- 
wise. 

In all places, companies, duiies, and emergence, 
he labours to consider with himself, How would my 
Lord and Saviour, were he in my place, acquit him- 
self on this occasion ? Would he do this or that t 
would he allow it to be done ? 

There are many actions of the man Christ Jesus 
which were performed by him as a human creature, 
in conformity to the moral law, which are to be imi- 
tated in the letter of them. If he obeyed his parents, 
prayed to his God, forgave his enemies, paid tribute 
to Cesar, despised no man for his poverty, esteemed 
no man for his wealth ; if he pleased not himself; 
nor sought his own glory ; if he was heavenly in 
his discourse, cheerful in his obedience, unwearied 
in his application to his work, and mortified to the 
world in the whole tenor of his conversation : these 
are branches of his behaviour, in which the servant 
of Christ follows him in the most literal sense, 
though at a humble distance ; not as Asahtl fol- 
lowed Abner, but as Peter followed his Master afar 
off. These duties are not only incumbent upon him 
by the authority of the precept, but are sanctified 
unto him, are rendered sweet and easy, by tl\e ex- 
ample of the Lord. 



^96 CHRIST THE SAINT'S PATTERN. 

But there are other actions of Christ, in which he 
acted the God : he fasted forty days ; he judged the 
hearts of the Pharisees ; he took the ass of another 
man to ride upon» as if it had been his own; he 
scourged the buyers and sellers out of the temple ; 
he foretold future events, and performed a great num- 
ber of miracles. To imitate these in the letter of them, 
the Christian knows very well is utterly impossible; 
and to attempt it, absolutely unlawful. But though 
ths matter of them is only proposed to his faith, the 
spirit of them, or the mind with which he did them, 
is also proposed to his imitation. His taking upon 
him the form of a servant, when he was in the form 
of God, and his giving himself a sacrifice unto God 
of a sweet smeUing savour, though for the matter 
of them they are actions utterly incapable of imita- 
tion ; yet even these high acts, in the true spirit of 
them, the Christian will endeavour to transcribe, 
by a humble and condescending behaviour, and by 
walking in love, as Christ also loved him. As John 
the Baptist did go before the Messiah in the spirit 
and power of Elias, though there was a great differ- 
ence betwixt the individual actions of these two 
men ; so he goes in the spirit and power of Christ, 
notwithstanding of the huge distance that must al- 
ways be between the Saviour and the saint. 

He may as his LoM- and Master, be exposed to 
calumnies of every kind ; but at last his righteous- 
ness is brought forth as the light, and even when he 
gains not the applause of the tongue, he wins the ap- 
probation of the heart. If any human thing could 
reclaim an ungodly sinner, it would be the conver- 
sation of him who imitates the Hfe of Christ. Here 
even the carnal man beholds the reality of religion 
brought home to his very senses, and the power of 
his lusts is assaulted with holy violence. As Christ 
is the visible image of the invisible God: so is this 
man the visible image of Christ, whom the world 
fieeth no more, because *' the heavens must contain 
him, until the time of the restitution of all things." 



(297) . ' 

OX THE EXCELLENCY OF CHRISTL\NITY, 



'OOOOt 



LET this man glory in his iUustrious ancestors, 
and think himself entitled to the honour and esteem 
of others, because descended of the worthy and re- 
nowned. Yet if he does not at all inherit their sup- 
posed virtues, the nobility of his birth is the stain 
of his reputation ; and the sounding titles wherewith 
he may be addressed are in reality no better than a 
satire upon his manners. As it will not add any thing 
to the value of lead or tin. these vulgar metals, that 
they are extracted from the precious silver ore ; so 
neither will an high extraction impart a value to the 
worthless and vulgar character. 

Let another bless himself in a fancied superiority 
to others, because he enjoys the favour of the great, 
dwells in a fine house, heaps up silver as the dust, 
maintains a numerous retinue of servants, and loads 
his table with the most delicious food : I never can 
think his character ennobled by all this pomp and 
wealth. — He enjoys the favour of the great, but not 
thy loving kindness, O God, which is better than 
life. — He dwells under a magnificent roof; but he 
makes not the Most High his habitation. — Tell me 
not of his heaps of silver and gold ; for he is not 
rich in good works: — nor of his numerous servants; 
for himself is a slave to vile affections. — He loads 
his table with luxurious food : but his soul feedeth 
on ashes, and husks that swine do eat. 

Nor has he a whit better title to fame, and solid 
glory, who enjoys what is commonly styled popu- 
larity^ and lives upon the tongues of 'multitudes. 
Alas! how far are they from being competent 
judges of what is truly great and laudable ! What 
wise man values himself on the commendation of 
fools ?^— But sometimes they may be in the right. Be 
it so. \^et still how scanty the limits, how short the 
duration in which the fame of the most renowned 
must necessarily be confined ! How many places, 
even on this our globe, where the name of the most 



29S ON THE EXCELLENCY OF CHRISTIANITY. 

celebrated man on earth has not been so much as 
heard of! How many heroes 6f antiquity, that kept 
t;he world awake with noise and lustre, whose names 
and actions are forgot, us though they had not been ! 
Where now are the mighty troiiblers of mankind ? 
O death, what contempt dost thou pour on princes ! 
As clouds are driven by the northern blast, as snow 
is melted by the sun, and as stubble is consumed 
before the fire ; so vanishes all glory and renown at 
thy approach. — Seest thou -that repository of the 
dead, where the dust of the vassal and his lord are 
blended together in gross familiarity. Here all pre- 
cedency is a jest. In vain is the coipse of the right 
honourable deposited in marble, or inclosed in silver, 
Alas! the worms are not afraid to riot on his flesh, 
who wore imperial purple. They keep no awful 
distance from majesty itself. 

Miserable they who were not careful to distin- 
guish themselves from the common herd of man- 
kind, but by these distinctions that are abohshed 
in the grave, and that are of no avail in the awful 
judgment. With what black faces will they look, 
who have no other recommendations but their illus- 
trious pedigree, their abundant wealth, and their 
popular renown ; when the Son of the carpenter, 
whose life was lowly, and his death ignominious, 
shall sift them before his tribunal. When every 
mask shall be pulled off, and every man appear in 
that character which really belongs to him ? When 
their eternal state shall be adjusted, not according to 
what they seemed in their own or others' eye-., but 
according to what they were in the eye of God, the 
most unquestionable judge of all their actions.^ 

Cease, then O my soul ! to admire, or to envy the 
glory of the world. Nor judge them truly honoura- 
ble, whose souls are not truly great, and whose glory 
will not descend after them into the grave. If a horse 
is not judged of by the gaudiness of his trappings, a 
statue by the grandeur of its pedestal ; why should 
we judge of men by their outward appendages, 
which may be stript off in this present life, and must 
of necessity be in the life to come ? 

Christianity, it is thine alone to lift up the poor 
from the dunghill^ and the needy out of the dust, and 



ON THE EXCELLENCY OF CflRISTIANITY. 299 

set them among princes. In thy light we see clearly 
how these that are esteemed the offscourings of all 
things, may, notwithstanding, be the excellent of the 
earth.—He — ^lie is truly honourable, whom the Al- 
mighty from his throne beholds despising in his heart 
those things which are reckoned great among men, 
and ardently aspiring at those sublime distinctions 
that are worthy of his rational and immortaj nature. 
He pays indeed a due regard to his good name, and 
would not willingly so much as incur thie suspicion 
of being guilty of what is unworthy of him. If a fair 
reputation may be acquired and maintained by a 
patient continuance in well doing, he does not at 
all despise it, but esteems it more than riches : for 
a good report maketh the bones fat, and enables 
the man that is possessed of it to be more exten- 
sively useful, in promoting the good of his fellow- 
creatures, and the glory of his Creator. But even 
when he does good, it is not the applause of men 
he principally courts ; but by honour and dishonour, 
by evil report, and good report, he approves himself 
unto the conscience of every man. If he gains their 
commendations, he does not greatly rejoice ; if he 
incurs their censure, he is not greatly sorrowful. 
Sometimes he takes pleasure in reproaches, and re- 
joices that he is counted worthy to suffer shame for 
his name's sake. 

What though he should live in the vale of life, 
though he be not pointed at as he goes along ? though 
he hear not the acclamations of the people ? His 
praise is not of men, but of God ; who knows his 
way; who points him forth to angels as the object 
of their regard ; while they, with true applause re- 
count his praises. 

What though he boast not the honours of his race, 
when the royal blood of heaven flows in his veins, 
because he is born from above ? 

What though he be not a favourite of the prince, 
when like a prince he has power with God? — 
Though he possess not a great quantity of v/ealth, 
when the unsearchable riches of Christ are all his 
own! — Though his steps are not attended by a nu- 
merous train of servants, when even the blessed an- 
gels are ministering spirits unto him, and keep him 



3*00 ON PRUDENCE. 

in all his ways ?— Though he have no better mansion 
than a cobwebbed cottage, when the King of glory 
deigns to come under his lowly roof; and even to 
dwell with him! — Though his clothes are not be- 
smeared with gold, when he puts on righteousness 
as a garment? — Though he lives on homely food, 
and drinks not generous wine in gold and silver ves- 
sels ; the flesh and blood of the Son of God is his 
daily provision. — And though his memory should die 
away in the city where he lived, yet lii's memorial 
in heaven is everlasting. 

Go then, O immortal soul, seek this honour that 
comes from God only, which is no phantom that will 
mock thy grasp, no bubble that will break at thy 
touch, no shadow that will fly from him that pursues 
after, but a blessed reality that will crown thy 
wishes. Thy passion needs not fill thy cheeks with- 
blushing ; for it is adequate to thy rational nature. 
O glorious honour! which Cesar cannot confer, 
which money cannot procure. The praise of men 
cannot bestow, the reproaches of men cannot take 
it away. The Lord of hosts hath purposed to stain 
the pride of all other glory ; but this honour shall 
never be laid in the dust. 



00000 

ON PRUDENCE. 



THERE is a prudence which is so essential to 
the being of a Christian, that it is but another name 
for that faith by which he lives. He that is wise 
unto salvation; he that knows thee the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent; he that 
is instructed in the kingdom of heaven, to understand 
the truths he should believe, the duties he should 
practise, and the happiness he should pursue; he — 
he is a prudent man, though he should be neither a 
wise oeconcmist in matters of this world, a plodding 
statesman, nor a cunning artificer. For his God doth 
instruct him to discretion ; and though a fool, in his 



ON PRUDENCE. 3(^1 

own and others opinion, he errs aot in the way of 
holiness. 

But there is a prudence of a much narrower kind, 
which if it be not essential, is highly ornamental to 
the Christian in the whole tenor of his life. By this 
he does not so much avoid immoralities, as impro- 
prieties of behaviour ; which though they should not 
make him guilty in the eye of God, would, notwith- 
standing, render him contemptible among men. In 
him the wisdom of the serpent is happily married 
with the simplicity of the dove, whilst he defends 
himself from the injuries of the world, without in- 
curring the guilt of being himself injurious. 

There is not perhaps any one description that com- 
prehends more of his real character, ihan this, that 
/lis heart discerns both time and judgment. It is a 
maxim worthy to drop from the pen of the wisest of 
all men, that ** for every thing there is a season ; and 
a time for every purpose under heaven." This ex- 
cellent precept he well understands, as knowing, 
that let an action be ever so good, if it is misplaced, 
and thrown out of its due order, it gathers an awk- 
wardness, and exposes to contempt. 

He knows when to be serious, and when to be 
cheerful ; — when to he zealous, when to be mode- 
rate ; — when to be deliberate, and when to be hasty; 
— when to be singular and when to be conformed ; — 
when to speak, and when to refrain from speaking; 
— when to reprove, and when to commend ; — when 
to give, and when to withhold ; — and never can, with 
a good grace, become the object of contempt and 
derision. 

For by this prudent timing of every word and ac- 
tion, he appears to every impartial spectator serious, 
but not dumpish ; — cheerful, yet not frothy ; — zeal- 
ous, yet not hery ; — moderate, but not lax ;— -delibe- 
rate, but not lazy ; — active, but not rash ; — singular, 
but not nice ; — courteous, but not cringing ; — noble, 
but not proud ; — frugal, but not covetous ;— devout, 
but not superstitious ; — resigned, but not negligent ; 
— fixed, but tiot dogmatical — liberal, but not prodi- 
gal. He Speaks but he is not talkative. He keeps 
silence, but he is not sullen. He reproves, but he 
breaks not the head. He commends, but heputfs not 

C o 



302 O^ DILIGENCE. 

Up. His words are few, but they are as goads, and 
as nails fastened in a sure place. Sometimes indeed 
he may be betrayed into an improper action, when 
he trusts too much to his own understanding, or gives- 
the reins to his unruly passions ; than which there 
are no greater adversaries to prudence of every kind. 
But he improves even by his blunders, whilst with 
shame he recollects them , and resolves against the like 
failures in time coming. He searches the scriptures, 
which can give even to the young man knowledge 
and discretion. He mortifies his lusts, and mode- 
rates his passions. He maintains a life of commu- 
nion with God. Therefore shall he guide his affairs 
with discretion unto the end : therefore shall he deal 
prudently ; he shall be extolled, and be very high. 
Good men shall rejoice to see none occasion of 
stumbling in him : and they that desire occasion, 
shall l>e ashamed, because it is cut off. Go thou and 
do likewise. 



}0000- 



ON DILIGENCE. 



THE diligent Christian is a person who looks 
upon time as the most invaluable of all treasures, 
and upon the salvation of his soul as the most in- 
teresting business of life He assigns not the dregs 
of his time to the exercise, of devotion, while the 
flower of it is dedicated unto the pursuit of worldly 
employments: but he serves God with the best he 
can afford. He does not say unto the duties of reli- 
gion, as the partial Christians of the apostle of James 
said to the poor man in vile raiment, when he came 
into their assembly, Stand ye there, or. Sit here 
under my footstool, while the duties of civil calling 
are invited, with the man that wears the gold ring, 
and gay clothing, to sit in a good place. He seeks 
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and 
other things can only claim a secondary care. Like 
vSolomon, he first builds the house of God, and then 



ON DILIGENCE. 303 

bis own house. As the shekel of the sanctuary was 
double to the common shekel ; so, in matters of 
eternity, he doubles the dihgence that he uses in the 
raatters of time. Religion is not his by-work, nor a 
matter of mere amusement, which he may, or may 
not attend unto, as he pleases. He knows that in all 
labour there is profit ; and that neither the blessings 
of providence nor grace will fall into the mouth of 
the yawning sluggard. Dost thou not see, O my soul, 
with what incessant toil the children of men acquire 
their worldly riches ? what dangers they defy ? what 
difficulties they surmount ? with what laborious 
efforts they hew out to themselves broken cisterns, 
that can hold no water ? They put forth their hand 
upon the rock, and overturn the very mountains. 
They are not afraid of killing damps, nor overflowing 
floods, that their eye may see every precious thing. 
And shall I not much more give diligence to obtain 
the prize of my high calling, which cannot be valued 
with the gold of Ophir, the precious oynx, or the 
sapphire ? How is he filled with conscious shame at 
such a thought! that worldly vanities appear with 
more attractive charms in the eyes of worldly men, 
than the things above in his eyes, and should inspire 
them with greater ardour to obtain them ! But 
especially, when he considers the shame, the pain, 
the sorrow, and the unknown agonies of the Re- 
deemer, to compass our salvation ; he can no more 
regard it as a matter of indifferency, that cost the 
Saviour so dear. Did he think my salvation worthy 
of so much blood ? and shall I think it worthy of no 
more but a few languid endeavours, slothful wishes, 
lazy desires? He looks upon no time as incapable of 
religious improvement. Even the seasons of worldly 
avocations are sometimes blessed seasons of inter- 
course with Heaven. As the image of Cesar was 
instamped upon the smallest coin, as well as the 
greatest; so the beauty of the Lord his God is 
stamped upon the minutest actions of his life, and 
establishes every work of his hand. Holiness, like a 
beau iful and shining varnish spread over the colour- 
ings of a picture, imparts a heavenly lustre to his 
whole conversation. Instead of contriving excuses to 
blunt the edge of the precept, and still the clamours of 



304 ON Contempt of the world. 

hisown conscience, when called to any necessary duty, 
he opens his mouth, and pants for God's command- 
ments. He leaps upon the mountains, and skips over the 
hills of difficulty. He esteems every day lost in which 
he has done nothing for the glory of God, the edifica- 
tion of his neighbour, or his own salvation. The time 
which i§ employed by others in vain jangling, and the 
canvassing of idle controversies, he bestows upon the 
mortifying of his earthly affections, and holding fel- 
lowship with God. When engaged in prayer, or any 
holy duty, he puts a holy constraint upon the back- 
ward flesh, he rallies his wandering thoughts, awa- 
kens his drowsy powers, and takes, as it were, by 
violence the kingdom of heaven. He considers no at- 
t^nment of religion as fit to be rested in, and in the 
matters of salvation he makes exception to the rule. 
Be co7itent with such things as you have. When old 
age shall clothe his head in snow, and furrow his face 
with wrinkles, the retrospect of his past life will not 
resemble ^ barren and unsightly desert, but a culti- 
vated garden. He is a credit to the religion he pro- 
fesses, and in some good measure, by his edifying life, 
and confirming conversation, supplies the want of 
miracles. But though he works out his own salvation 
with fear and trembling, it is not by his own strength ; 
nor does he look upon his diligence, however great, 
as meritorious of eternal life. For as Christ hath 
wrought all his works for him; so it is God that 
worketh in him both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure. 



•00000- 



ON CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD. 



BUT what shall we say of him who despises the 
world, and its fashions that pass away ^ Shall we say, 
that he is lazy and indolent in his lawful calling, ne- 
glecting to provide for his own ? No : for we find that 
even the Son of God himself, in the days of his ob- 
scurity, handled the tools of the carpenter. Or that 



ON CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD. 30^ 

his lawful comforts are tasteless and insipid to him ? 
How then sho ild he be duly thankful to his all-gra- 
cious Benefactor? He neither admires the foolish 
action of him who threw his money into the sea, nor 
the discontented practice of those, whether of the 
Pagan, Jewish, oi Christian denomination, who being 
weary of the world, condemned themselves to a civil 
death, or voluntary banishment, from the cheei'ful 
haunts of men, retiring to the lonely cell, or solitary 
desert. He knows there is nothing better than for a 
man to rejoice in his labour. Even in his worldly 
portion, he enjoys his God, and reads the love of his 
dying Redeemer. 

But such is the acquaintance he has with the glory 
of heaven, the dignity of his own soul, the vain and 
hurtful nature of the world, that he highly disdains 
to set his affections on the things of the earth, either 
in whole, or in part, as though they could be the 
main springs of his felicity. 

Is he placed hi humble circumstances, having no 
large quantity of earthly goods at his command ? He 
discerns in this providence the kindly affection of a 
tender parent, removing from the reach of a beloved 
child, what might prove hurtful and pernicious; 
■whilst those for whom he has no such tender regard, 
are permitted to fall upon it, and, to their unspeaka- 
ble prejudice, to fill their bellies with his hidden 
treasure. He envies not but rather pities the men of 
superior rank, whose wishes are not crowned by the 
abundance of their riches; but their sorrows are 
multiplied, and new fuel is added to their lusts : and 
many of them, alas ! have their portion in this life. 
As for those that set the world in their hearts, (by 
far too fine a frame for such a wretched pebble,) all 
whose days are sorrow, and their labour grief ; he 
can no more esteem them truly rich, than we would 
tliink the man happy, whose entrails should be tor-A 
tured with a precious diamond, fit to shine in the 
crown of the most exalted monarch. 

If he is rich in this world, he is neither too joyful 
in hayuig, too solicitous in keeping, too anxious m in- 
creasing, nor too sorrowful in losing these corruptible 
things. He rejoices more in the promises of the Bible, 
than in the gold of his coffers. As the seamen are 
G c 2 



S06 O^ CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD* 

carefuj not to admit into their vessel the -waters of 
the ocean by any of the smallest cranny ; as well 
aware how quickly they would descend unto the 
bottom : so he is fearful to admit this world into his 
affections, lest he be drowned in perdition. He is 
fully persuaded, that he is as much an idolater, Who 
offers the affections of his heart to the unrighteous 
mammon, and says unto fine gold, Thou art my con- 
fidence^ as that he is an idolater, who uncovers the 
head, kisses the hand, or bows ihe knee to an idol, 
or honours the vanities of the Gentiles with sacri- 
fices and incense. Too eagerly to grasp what is his 
own he equally abhors, as violently to snatch at what 
is the property of his neighbour. Whilst the niggardly 
wretch wants what he has, as well as what he has 
not, and his good is not in his hand; he enjoys the 
gifts of providence, by moderately using them to the 
glory ot his Creator, and the good of his fellow crea- 
tures. He steers the middle course between the sor- 
did miser who lays up his talent in a napkin, and the 
prodigal wasier who consumes upon his lusts, what 
was given him for more noble ends. He thankfully 
receives, but does not anxiously pursue the goods of 
fortune ; nor abandonjhimself to unmanly grief, when 
they make unto themselves wings, and fly away. Tlie 
world is dead to him. What though you bury it out 
of his sight? He reverences himself, and highly dis- 
dains to place his happiness in what was only designed 
for his temporary accommodation. Mindful of his 
high original, he suffers not this servant to bear rule ; 
which were to submit to a slavery of all other slave- 
ry the most inglorious ! Whilst he converses mucli 
with things eternal and unseen, he acquires a high 
disdain of the temporal things that are seen. As he 
who deals much in pieces of gold, thinks little of cop- 
per money ; the good of the heavenly country is be-- 
fore him, even the better and enduring substance, 
and, like the venerable patriarch, he regards not his 
stuff* of worldly enjoyments, if he is called to forego 
them. He rejoices more that his friends are holy, 
than that they are wealthy ; and is more anxious to 
instil into the minds of his children, sentiments of de- 
votion, than to bring them acquainted with the art of 
making their fortune, aud growing considerable in 



ON THE IMPROVEMENt OF TIME. 20T 

the world. He uses the world as a flower, which 
preserves its beauty and verdure the longer, the less 
you handle it. When the busy worldling at once 
throws up his interest in the comforts of time, and 
pleasures of eternity, this heaven-born soul has the 
true relish of life, and at the same lime can rejoice 
in all the treasures of eternity as his own proper 
mercies. Happy soul ! he has provided for himself 
bags that wax not old, and durable riches, which no 
rust can corrupt, no thief can steal, of which no Storm > 
no conflagration, can bereave him. 



•00000' 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF TIME. 



O TIME, how short is thy continuance ! How un- 
certain th)^ stay. 

Indeed if we comparfe thee with the transitory 
fashions of this world, thy face is full of wrinkles, 
and thou art the oldest of things : yet art thou but an 
infant in comparison of eternity past : yet art thou 
but a moment in comparison of eternity to come. Not 
many thousand years ago the voice of the Almighty 
gave thee birth, when he spake and it was done, he 
commanded and it stood fast. Yet a little while, the 
voice of the archangel, and the last trumpet's sound 
shall give thee death, and thou shalt be no more. But 
O how scanty is the share we have even in thy short 
duration ! To us'thou dwindlest down to threescore 
years and ten ; nor can we assure ourselves even of 
this little span. 

While we poor dreaming mortals, supinely yawn 
on our beds ot sloth, forgetful of the difficult and ne- 
cessary work of our salvation ; thou boldest on thy 
unrelenting career, swifter than the weaver's shut- 
tle, the nimble arrow, or the eagle that hasteth to 
her prey. 

None ever heard the tread of thy nimble feet, nor 
the sounding of thy wings. Though men have given 
thee a tongue, and thou speakest not once or twice, 



2QS ^^ "^^^^ I5fPR0VE:MENT OF TIME. 

bat twenty times in a day ; yet tnan perceiveth it 
not. We never remembei^ that the striking of the 
clock is the knell of our departed hours ; and we 
say, with the sluggard,* " Yet a little»sleep, a little 
slumber, a little folding of the hands t-o sleep." 

Could we recall thy steps, could we i^etrieve thy 
loss; perhaps our folly might admit some shadow of 
excuse. If our work might be accomplished with the 
slightest application, and if we were not at all account- 
able for the inxprovement w^e make of this most pre- 
cious talent, then might our shameful prodigality be 
a more pardonable error. But since ail these hopes 
are the most foolish and chimerical which can possi- 
bly enter into the human breast, to what shall we 
ascribe our listless langour, but to the most desperate 
infatuation and stupidity. 

Happy the man who has a heart given him to use 
this price put in his hand to get wisdom, and who is 
skilled in the holy merchandise of redeeming the 
time. There are two maxims to which, in the course 
of his life, he stedfastly adheres. 

The^r^; is, that no spc%ce of time is to be left 
Avholly blank and void, but every part of it ought to 
be filled up with doing good, lie considers his time 
as an estate or tract of ground, that ought to be dili- 
gently cultivated, or manured, and no parcel of it, 
thougheversobarren, incapable of some improvemeuf. 
He allows to the innocent demands of nature, for 
sleep and recreation, no more than is necessary to 
recruit iis languishing powers. Every day he esteems 
as lost, which has not produced some action, that 
imports him a rational and immortal creature, tend- 
ing to promote either the glory of God, the good of 
his neighbour, or the salvation of his own soul. He 
does not content himself in being diligent merely in 
the business of his civil calling, but to his power he 
does good unto all men, if the ignorant are to be in- 
structed, — if the unruly are to be warned, — if the 
weak are to be supported, if the disconsolate are to 
be comforted, — if the needy are to be relieved, — if 
innocence is to be vindicated from unjust aspersions, 
— if mistaken prejudices are to be removed, — and 
angry passions soothed. But chiefly acts of devotion, 
heaj'ing or reading the word, pouring put his heart 



ON DEATH. 3Q9- 

in prayer to a i^conciled God; these are his fa- 
vourite employments, and the portions of time em- 
ployed in them, the golden spots of his existence. 
A day in his courts he esteems as better than a 
thousand. 

The second is, that no opportunity of time be suf- 
fered to slip. As to every thing there is a season, and 
a time for every fiurfiose under heaven ; these op- 
portunities he lays hold upon, as the calls of provi- 
dence to do good, which will be quickly over and 
gone. In a word, he is hasty in beginning, and vigo- 
rous in pursuing every good work, and every lauda- 
ble enterprise, but chiefly the work of his salvation. 
Every day he considers as a new life. He cares not so 
much how long time he lives in the world, as how well 
he employs it ; as well knowing that it is a prelude 
either to a joyful or a disconsolate eternity. 



00000 

ON DEATH. 



O DEATH, how dismal thy appearance! how 
grizzly are thy features, to those whose thoughts 
cannot overlook this present transitory scene of 
things ! who have not learned to expatiate in the un- 
known regions of eternity, and know not where they 
shall fix their everlasting abode ? How dost thou 
rend the man in twain, bursting the silver cord which 
knit the soul and body into one ! From what dost thou 
snatch us away ? to what regions dost thou convey us ! 
through what dark paths wilt thou conduct us from 
this world to the next? These all conspire to 
heighten thy terror, and make thy gloom more 
dreadful. 

Thou riflest the treasures of the anxious miser, 
and suUiest all the honours of the proud. At thy 
command the drunkard makes haste to finish his de- 
bauch, and the delicious epicure becomes the sweet 
repast of worms and reptiles. How wilt thou quench 
each burning lust in thy cold, icy arms, O king of 



310 ON DEATH; 

terrors ! The man of letters forgets his favourite 
books which now in vain adorn the shelves covered 
with (lust. The sceptred hand now drops the reins 
of government. The stately rooms of the palace no 
more behold their honoured lord. Thou changest 
our countenance, and sendest us away. No more 
shall we behold our joyous home, our pleasing and 
affectionate relations nor the cheerful face of the 
day. nor the delightful variations of the seasons. By 
thee, for ought we know, the stars are blown out as 
to us, the sun and moon are extinguished in their 
habitation 

And whither, O whither wilt thou carry us, when 
■we renounce our correspondence with the sun? 
When our dull bodv drops into the grave, and rots 
away unseen, vhere wilt thou send our trembling 
souls? What sights shall we see. What sound shall 
■we hv.-ar? Witti whom shall we converse? Alas ! it 
is a state of vhich we are ignorant; a w^orld of spi- 
rits, and disembodied beings, with whom we have no 
familianry here. 

How dark is the transition ! how dreary is the path 
that leads us to rough thy deep and shady vale, O 
death ! To whom have thy gates been opened ? Who 
knows thy secret ciiambers? No mortal ere returned 
to tell us what thou art. 

Yet must we tread the dismal road ; nor are our 
steps to be recalled when fairly entered on it. No 
man hath power to retain the breath of his nostrils, 
neither hath he power in the day of death. How 
universal is thy dominion ! how cruel is thy appetite, 
which never says, It is enough! Long hast thou 
spread desolation through the universe ; not among 
beasts and plants alone,* but also among man's impe- 
rial race, in every period of time. Void of compas- 
sion for the smiling infant, the blooming youth, the 
venerable sage, thou blendest them in undistinguished 
ruin. Thou regardest not the forces of strength, the 
charms of beauty, nor the golden bribes of riches. 
Thou pourest contempt upon princes, in whom we 
cannot therefore safely trust, and upon all the sons 
of men, in whom there is no stay, because they are 
born to die. 

TV/iat man is he that liveth, and shall nat se0 



ON DEATH., 311, 

death ? We need not search for thee in the plains of 
battle, in the rocks and billows of the ocean, nor on 
the loaded tables of luxury and intemperance- Num- 
berless accidents, and ghastly bands of pale diseases, 
surround us in terrible array. But accidents apart, 
and pale diseases set aside, old age soon cuts the 
thread of life, and hastens thy approach. Threescore 
and ten, or fourscore revolving winters, may perhaps 
be numbered by us. Alas ! how soon is this period 
exhausted ! How exceeding diminutive it shews in 
reason's eye ! and in the eye of him who is just now 
to render up the ghost ! As the shuttle sweeps over 
the loom in the twinkling of an eye ; as the post, who 
carr}dng some message of importance, is dispatched 
away, gains upon the road, and takes no time to view 
the adjacent country; as the ship which has the 
wfr>d in her wings, skims over the watery plain ; and 
as the fleet eagle, who spies out his prey from on 
high, descends with headlong precipitation; so flies 
our momentary duration. 

Yet boast not of thy victories over the human race, 
thou unrelenting tyrant? There are who can hold 
thee with a smile, and laugh at the shaking of thy 
spear. Jesus, the loving Saviour, received into his 
soul thy fatal sting, and wrought out all thy deadly 
venom. In vain thou though test to hold him under 
thy gloomy dominion : for though he was deady yet 
he is alive again, and liveth evermore. He entered 
thy dreary gates, and tasted of thy bitter cup for 
every elect man. Why should we fear to taste thee, 
or tread thy dreary vale, when the Breaker is gone 
up before us ; who leads the blind in a way they 
know not, and in paths they have not known? 

Repine at death ? Why should the mournful pri- 
soner take in bad part the kindly office that unties 
his fetters, and overturns the walls of his dungeon ! 
Why should the child repine to burst the narrow 
confinement of the womb, and salute the rejoicing 
light of day ? Ought not the weary pilgrim to bless 
the day which returns him to his Father's house ? 
and the espoused bride to rejoice in the hour when 
she is presented to her faithful Bridegroom, without 
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ? 

Though thy pains, O death, were as terrible as a 



312 ON DEATH. 

timorous imagination paints them, (which yet they 
cannot be, when the sensation is gone ;) yet should 
we soon forget our miseries ; by reason of those 
transporting scenes which shall straightway unfold 
unto our view. 

How fondly shall our dust sleep in the peaceful 
grave, thy dark and sohtary mansion ! where we^ 
shall not be pained with the gnawings of the worm, 
nor offended by the nauseous stench, nor wearied 
with the dismal solitude, nor frighted with the sur- 
rounding darkness. These are the terrors of the liv- 
ing, not the dead. 

It is true, the pleasant enjoyments of time are ours 
no more. But neither are the sins nor the sorrows. 
We bid farewell to the streams, but we bathe in the 
fountain of felicity. We shall no more behold the 
ways of men, nor see the glory of the Lord in ^e 
land of the living ; yet shall we come to God the 
Judge of all, to Jesus the Mediator of the new cove- 
nant, and to the innumerable company of angels, and 
spirits of just men made perfect. 

Whhher canst thou carry us, O death, from the 
presence of that God, whose loving-kindness is better 
than life ^ When with thy trident thou shalt break 
the pitcher of this mortal frame, the deathless soul is 
not like water spilt upon the ground : for the pitcher 
being broken at the fountain, it runs to its original, 
and can be gathered up again. 

Hail happy day, that destroyest the last enemy ; 
in which the sleeping bonps shall hear the call, and 
re-unite into a system! How shall the reproach of 
the grave be wiped away, when that which was 
sown in dishonour, and shameful putrefaction, shall 
he raised in glory ? Then, O death, we shall be no 
more subject to thy power, when we shall call eter- 
nal life and immortality our own. *' Rejoice not 
against me, O mine enemy ; for though I fall by thy 
hand, I shall arise again ; and when I sit in darkness 
in the grave, even then the Lord will be a light 
unio me." 



(313) 



ON THE RESURRECTION 



SHALL death always triumph over the human 
race, and hold these prisoners of the tomb in ever- 
lasting chains? Will the Lord for ever despise the 
work of his hands, nor ever more repair these hea- 
ven-laboured frames of flesh? Shall those holy hands 
that were devoutly lifted up to heaven, those knees 
that often were bended in humble supplication before 
the throne, those tongues that talked of his wonder- 
ful works, and uttered his praises, and all the other 
instruments of righteousness, for ever lie in rubbish ? 
Shall the expectation of the poor always fail ? Have 
the martyrs bled in vain, who were tortured, not ac- 
cepting deliverance ? Faithful is he who hath pro- 
mised, who also would do it. It is the work of death 
to part the body from the soul, and then the grave 
eats up our flesh, and even gnaws our bones. Yet 
shall your works be destroyed, ye frightful monsters: 
Ijtone shall come to his bone, dust to his dust ; and 
every parted soul re-enter its ancient habitations. 

It It IS marvellous in your eyes, should it be mar- 
vellous in his eyes, whose understanding is infinite 
whose power is not to be conceived? Lift up your 
eyes on high, who hath created all these God-like 
luminaries, and marshals all their host? Behold, he 
termed the eye, and bored the ear, and fashioned 
all your members. By whom is his arm shortened, 
that he is not able to restore his workmanship when 
gone to dissolution ? We understand not the powers 
ot angels; we are struck with admiration at the cu- 
rious arts and witty inventions of puny mortals, and 
wonder how it is possible for them to give beine to 
such elaborate productions. The art of the painter is 
deservedly amazing to those who are not formed by 
nature with such mysterious skill. How is the poor 
Indian amazed at the moving machines of watches 
and clocks which are easily formed bv European 
artists? With what inimitable art the skilful musi- 
cian swells his notes, and sweeps the vocal strings.*' 



314 ON THE RESURRECTIO^T. 

Are the ways of men above our shallow reach ; and 
shall the ways of God be fully understood, seeing 
they are higher than our ways, as the heavens are 
higher than the earth ? 

When the mystery of God shall be finished, and 
the pregnant decree shall have travailed with her 
last birth, the Lord himself shall descend from hea- 
ven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
and with the trump of God. Behold, consider, and 
admire the man of sorrows, who was crucified, dead, 
and buried, is the God who quickens the dead. Even 
those who are made alive by him, who imbrued 
their hands in his blood, who pierced his hands 
and feet, " To this end he both died, rose, and re- 
vived, that he might be the Lord of the quick and 
dead." 

O shrill voiced trump of God, (whatever thou art,) 
how shalt thou wound the rest of many generations ! 
The king shall hear thee beneath the vaulted mar- 
ble, and shall come forth without his crown ; and 
the peasant who sleeps Ijeneath the grassy turf, shall 
arise at thy command. Ocean shall hear and tremble 
in his deepest caverns, and render up his dead, 
which long did float upon his surface, and weltered 
to the winds, and at last were devoured by the finny 
inhabitants of the floods. 

Populous assembly! Not one missing of past, pre- 
sent, and future generations. Neither can they di e 
any more. For, O thou last enemy! destructions are 
come to a perpetual end ; though you have razed ci- 
ties, and their memorial is perished with them. Now 
in your turn you shall be swallowed up in victory. 
How glad would the ungodly be to find thee when 
pulled out like sheep for the slaughter! They shall 
lift up, in that awful hour, a cry after thee, far more 
doleful than what was heard in Egypt, in the night 
fatal to their first-born, (iladly would they search 
for thee in the bottom of the ocean, or penetrate into 
the centre through interposing rocks, to find thee. 
But thou shalt flee from them, and leave them to eat 
the fruit of their ways. Think on this dimal tragedy, 
ye dead in trespasses and sins. Yet are ye the prison- 
ers of hope. Christ is the resurrection and the life. 
Believe on him, and though ye be deud, then shall 



ON THE RESURRECTION. 315 

V Oil live. Repent and be converted, every one of yoii» 
that your sins may be blotted out, and not found, 
when they shall be sought for, when the times of re- 
freshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 

Times of refreshing indeed to all the followers of 
the Lamb ! Then shall his going forth be prepared 
as the morning, after a melancholy night of black- 
ness, and darkness and tempest; or as the beauteous 
spring, when she comes after a surly winter, to strew 
the earth with flowers, and clothe the naked trees in 
green attire. Awake y and sing^ shall he say, ye that 
dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs ^ 
and the earth shall cast forth her dead, and shall no 
more cover her slain. 

Then shall those who perhaps expired in mutual 
wounds, join hand and hand, and mutually partake in 
the Redeemer's purchase. There Mephibosheths are 
not lame , nor Leahs tender-eyed, nor sh all Timothy be 
any more subject ta his often infirmities. For he shall 
change our vile body, and make it like that glorious 
one which he himself doth wear. Farewell to pining 
sickness. Adieu, ye ghastly band of pale diseases, 
distempers lingering and acute, hunger, and thirst, 
and, weariless. No more. O balmy sleep! shall we 
need thy welcome refreshment, when that which is 
sown in dishonour, shall be raised in glory. 

Great is your gain, ye saints, when ye exchange 
time for eternity ! Nor is it only gain to your undying 
souls, but even to your putrefying clay ; which, with 
inconceivable improvement, shall be restored you 
again. Nor is it a doubtful event Ye dead men of the 
Lord, together with his dead body shall you arise. For 
you he vis^ited the gloomy mansion of the grave. Your 
Redeemer has warmed your cold clay bed, and left 
a most delightful odour in the noisome sepulchre. 
He who brought Israel out of Egypt, and Jonah from 
the belly of the fish, and Daniel fi om the den of lions, 
will surely bring you from the grave : for the temples 
of the Holy Ghost, will not always he in rubbish, nor 
the members of the body of Christ for ever be forgot- 
ten in the pit of corruption. The Lord Jesus Christ 
he is the head, the living head; and ye are the mem- 
bers of liis body, of his flesh, and of his bones. He is 
the first-fruits ; and ye are the full harvest. He is 



315 ON THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENf. 

the first begotten from the dead; and ye, as the 
younger brethren, shall be begotten in your season. 
And with your clay, your characters shall rise, and 
your righteousness shall go forih as the light. For by 
the resurrection from the dead, ye shall, like Christ, 
be declared the sons of God with power. 



•00000- 



ON THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT. 



THERE is a time, (who knowshow near?) when, 
fi^ccording to the tenor of the sacred oracles, the 
mystery of God shall be finished, the Lord himself 
shall descend with a shout, the dead shall be raised, 
the living shall be changed, the world shall be 
judged. Whatever great or dreadful has been 
achieved under the sun, falls infinitely short of the 
transactions of this awful day. Mercifully has our 
gracious God suppressed this day and hour in dark- 
ness, that we may never intermit our watch. O did 
"we make this wise improvement of it ! 

Methinks the awful period is arrived. The drowsy 
world is lost in security ; little dreaming of an ex- 
tinguished sun, or falling stars. Some will be buying 
and selling in the market, some will debauching in 
the tavern, some will be planting trees, some will 
be building houses, some will be marrying and giving 
in marriage, when.'lo! the dreadful sound of a 
trumpet, blown by a strong lunged angel, (perhaps 
the same that once was heard on binai waxing 
louder and louder,) shall wound the ear of nature, 
proclaiming the approach of the Judge, that an end, 
an end is come, and the fashion of this world passeth 
away. 

BEHOLD^ he cometh with clouds : innumerable 
angels attend his approach, and pour around his 
chariot : his radiant face echpse the lustre of the 
sun : beneath him a great throne, white as the snow, 
and fiery as the flame. Is this he who was born in 
Bethlehem, and groaned on Calvary ? whom ye in- 



ON THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT. 317 

suited, O Bnalicious Jews, bending your knees before 
him in solemn mockery? Say now, mistaken Caia- 
phas, whether did he or thou blaspheme. 

Long had the prisoners of tlie grave slept in dark- 
ness ; but now they awake out of their iron sleep, 
they shake off the slumber of a thousand ages. Now 
monuments render back their dust, church-yards 
and burial-grounds pant and heave. Even palaces 
will then be found to have been but upper chambers 
to a tomb. And the ocean itself will seem to have 
been paved with human skulls. Strange to behold ! 
the fragments of bodies will fly through the air, to 
obey the signal of the trumpet, and join their fel- 
low-members, however distant. Ask not, ye profane, 
how can it be? For who hath shortened his arm? 
He who knit your bodies together at the first, can 
re-unite your scattered dust, though the four winds 
were warring for it. Three days did the propet Jo- 
nah suffer a living death in the belly of the fish : but 
"when the third morning gilded the mountains, and 
played upon the billows, the obedient monster re- 
turned his sacred guest untouched on the safe shore. 
So at the appointed season, the grave, at the com- 
mand of God, shall cast forth her dead, and the eairth 
shall no more cover her slain. 

Mean time the living shall undergo a change 
equivalent unto death, and this mortal shall put on 
immortality. This is a great mystery. Here let us 
leave it under a vail, and proceed to take a view of 
that most populous assembly, where Adam shall 
salute his youngest son. The billows are not so nu- 
merous that break upon the shore, nor the stars that 
glitter in the firmament. The edict of the Almighty 
King shall sweep an area for this vast congregation. 
Here all civil distinctions are buried. The mighty 
Cesar stands upon level with the meanest of the 
throng. No respect is paid to him that wore imperial 
purple. Here the great heroes of antiquity shall 
stand unmarked and unadored. 

See there on the left hand of the Judge, that dire- 
ful crowd, pale with horror and amazement ! How 
their eye balls roll in wild affright ! what despair 
is in every gesture ! Most gladly would they bless 
the grave to cover them, the flames to wrap them, 

Dd3 



318 ON THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED. 

the rock to hide them, or the seas to sweep them 
from the presence of him that sits upon the throne. 
But mark on the right hand that triumphant assem- 
bly, who face the thunders with dauntless magna- 
nimity; when the stars are falling, their thoughts 
are fixed; when the earth is quaking, their heart is 
unappalled. They view with calm serenity the 
yawning gulf, the glorious Judge, and hail the happy 
noorning of the resurrection. Are these the forms 
that mouldered in the dust! What rosy youth smiles 
in their countenancesi Once did they lie among the 
pots of sin and misery ; but now they are made as 
a dove, whose wings are covered with silver, and her 
feathers with yellow gold. Not one sinner shall stand 
in this vast congregation of the righteous. 



OOQOO 

ON THE MISERY OF THE DAMNEt). 



CANST thou descend, O my soul! with awful 
step into the doleful regions of damnation ! Let thy 
heart meditate terror. The more shall thy fears be 
alarmed to fly from the wrath to come in this thy 
day of merciful visitation: the more shall thy grati- 
tude be awakened unto thy loving Saviour, who re- 
deems thy life from destruction, and who says unto 
thee. Fear not^ I have the keys of hell and death. 
But have the doors of the shadow of death been 
opened unto us ? Who can presume to give the geo- 
graphy of this dismal territory, or confidently say, 
in what place of this large universe eternal justice 
has ordained this doleful dungeon ! Whether it shall 
be in the centre of the earth, or in some blazing 
comet, or far beyond the limits of this lightsome 
world, where chaos and eternal darkness reign ; he 
only knows, before whom hell and destruction have 
no covering. No thoughts can reach, no words can 
paint the horrors of this dreary region, where the 
miserable inhabitants drink of the wrath of the Al- 
™jg^ty, and know by dreadful experience, what is 



ON THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED. 319 

the power of his anger. Waving the metaphorical 
descriptions of darkness, worms, and fire; there 
dwells the most restless and unsatisfied desire, the 
most overwhelming shame, the most horrible fear, 
the most dismal sorrow, the most tormenting envy, 
the most unrelenting hardness of heart, and the 
most racking despair. 

They hunger, but there is no food to relieve their 
appetite ; they thirst, but there is no refreshing foun- 
tain, nor even a cooling drop. Should sensual appe- 
tites remain, they never can be gratified. As heathen 
poets sung of Tantalus, burning with thirst and hun- 
ger ; Gladly would he snatch at the delicious apples 
hanging over his head, or steal a cooling draught 
of water, that came up to his chin: but no sooner 
did he make the fruitless attempt, than the apples 
fled from his grasp, and the waters from his taste. 
So shall they ** snatch on the right hand, and be 
hungrj^ ; and they shall eat on the left, and shall not 
be satisfied : they shall eat eveiy man the flesh of 
his own arm." 

How will the impropriety of their past conduct 
expose them to the bitter taunts of insulting devils, 
and to the painful upbraidings of their own hearts ! 
Fools that we were, for one morsel of meat, to sell 
our heavenly birthright ! for such transitory de- 
lights, for such little sips of polluted joy, to awaken 
these everlasting flames ! 

What fearfulness and trembhng shall come upon 
them, when they behold the angry face of God clad 
with an everlasting frown ! who can behold it, and 
not be sore amazed ! Even the Son of God did sweat 
great drops of blood when he beheld it. How then 
shall these feeble creatures endure ! 

Lo! heaven shuts its everlasting doors upon them, 
while their minds are haunted with the ghastly ap- 
paritions of their departed joys. How keen must be 
the sorrow! how cutting the anguish of such a 
thought .> I have eternally lost the incomparable 
happiness of yonder blessed abodes. Where are ye 
now, my pleasing comforts ? How have you fled 
away as a vision of the night ^ 

Nor will it be a smaU part of their misery, to envy 
the--|)rosperity of yie righteous, when they shall 



320 ON' THE MISERY OF THE DAMNED- 

seize their heavenly throne, and tune their harps to 
strains of highest rapture. When " their horn shall 
he exalted with honour, the wicked shall see it, and 
be grieved: he shall gnash with the teeth, and melt 
away." 

O shocking to think ! they will eternally hate the 
eternal excellency, because they are hated oi him. 
No more shall the divine Spirit excite the faintest 
motion in their minds tov/ards God or holiness. The 
iron sinew of their stubborn will, will grow more 
Jiard by these fierce flames. They may indeed re- 
pent ; but iheir repentance worketh death. 

Here hope supports under the greatest pressures : 
but there that anchor shall be broken. Here the 
sous of sorrow will sometimes sink in soft repose, 
the couch will ease their complaint, and kind offi- 
cious friends will fall on various methods to blunt 
the edge of the sharpest pain. Even the tortured 
wretch, though dying hard and slow, may comfort 
himself with this, that his torments will shortly come 
to an end. But these can hope for no respite, nor 
pefiod of their woes. How would it stamp a bow in 
their cloud, to think there were an end ! But in vain, 
should they shed an ocean of tears, and stretch out 
their suppliant hands. Death will flee from them, 
consigning them over to flat despair. Have pity upon 
them, O ye their friends. Will no affectionate rela- 
tion shed a compassionate tear .^ Alas! the father 
will not pity his children, and the mother will have 
no compassion on the son of her womb: for they 
sing Hallelujah when the smoke of their torment as- 
cendeth for ever and ever. 

Surely such are the dnvellingsofthe wicked: andt/iis 
i3 the place of him that knonveth not God. O my soul ? 
envy not their momentary happiness, come not into 
their secret, be not united unto their assembly. How 
much better is it for thee to strive to enter in at the 
strait gate, with these happy few that find it, than to 
go with the multitude in the broad way that leadeth 
unto destruction ? Canst thou fly too fast from hell 
and damnation? Canst thou be too careful to avoid 
those paths, which, though strewed with roses, lead 
down to the chambers of death? Whether is it 
better ihy flesh shouM raurmur, or thy soul shoiMd 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. 321 

periish ? O that knowing these terrors of the Lord, 
our whole life might be one constant flight from the 
wrath that is to come ! How miserable are they 
who will not be persuaded of the realty of everlast- 
ing torments, by all the threatenings of the^ >vord, 
when it is declared by the faithful and true Witness, 
"Ifthfey will not believe Moses and the prophets, 
neither will they be persuaded, though one should 
arise from the dead!" 



•00000- 



ox THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. 



GLORIOUS things are spoken of thee, O city of 
God! and of those happy beings who walk thy 
golden streets, and dwell in thy ivory palaces. They 
are all of them kings and priests unto God. Hail ye 
highly favoured of the Lord, ye nations of them that 
are saved ! Now have ye received power over the 
nations of numerous corruptions, and rule them with 
a rod of iron. A crown, not of flowers, which fade, 
not of gold, which is also a corruptible thing ; but of 
glory, of righteousness, of life, shall flourish on your 
heads. The throne of Christ himself receives you. 
Eternal shall be your triumph, ye happy victors, 
who have more than conquered, lliei^fore are ye 
arrayed in white robes, palms are in your hands, 
songs of salvation are in your mouths. The Lord is 
your inheritance, ye royal priesthood. By Jesus 
Christ your altar, shall you ofier up the sacrifices 
of praise continually. You shall go no more out from 
the heavenly temple, as did the legal priests below ; 
for he shall make you as the pillars of Jachin and 
Boaz in the temple of your God. In what flowery 
paths, by what living waters, shall the Lamb in the 
midst of the throne conduct you, ye flock of his pas- 
ture, for whom your good Shepherd did give his 
very life ! LTnder what verdant shades shall you re- 
pose, where the sun shall not light on you, nor any 
heat ! O happy rest from sin and sorrow into which 



322 ^N TH£ HAPPINESS OF H£AVEN. 

ye have entered, ye people of God ! No more shall 
you weary yourselves in the greatness of your way. 
Your understandings shall lest in the contemplation 
of truth your wills in the fruition ''of good. Every 
wish is crowned, every desire is gratified by God 
himself, your exceeding great reward. Plentiful 
feast to which ye are invited, where you feed upon 
the hidden manna, and taste that the Lord is good. 
No more shall pale famine approach your blessed 
abodes, who are called to the mariiage supper of 
the Lamb. O blissful vision to which you are ad- 
mitted! No more you see through a glass darkly. 
Not the back parts only, but the face and the si- 
militude of the Lord shall you behold. All ye be- 
holding with open face this glory of the Lord, shaU 
be satisfied and sanctified at once. With joy, and in 
righteousness, shall ye see his face. But, O thou ex- 
ceeding great and eternal weight of glory ! Eye hath 
not seen thee, ear hath not heard thee, heart hath 
not conceived. What tongue, what pen of angels 
can describe thee ? Therefore by such variety of 
metaphors art thou shadowed out in the book of 
God. 

O heavenly Father! give me the light of the 
knowledge of thy glory. Irradiate my mind, O di- 
vine Spirit! that in thy light I may know what is the 
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. 

As delicious meat unto the taste, as fragrant per- 
fumes unto the smell, as melodious accents to the 
ear, as dehghtful colours to the eye; so is the know- 
ledge of wisdom unto the soul. But '* where shall 
wisdom be found, ami where is the place of under- 
standing ?" In vain you search for it in these dull 
regions. Here, with laborious assiduity, we dig for 
her as for hid treasures. When found by many 
a painful effort, how far from satisfactory.^ Neither 
do we find that knowledge is pi-oductive of holiness 
in heart and life. How many, like that prodigious, 
image, which Daniel beheld in the visions of the 
night, have added feet of sordid clay, to heads of 
purest gold ^ But in that happy countiy, the niglU of 
intellectual darkness no more attends her dusky 
shade. The tree of knowledge is the tree of life in 
the celestial paradise. Then each mysterious doc- 



OiJ THE HAPPIJJESS OF HEAVEl?i 32$, 

trine in religion shines brighter than the light, and 
full day pours on all the paths of heaven. How are 
the channels of the deep waters discovered, through 
which the Almighty held this darksome way ^ 

Sin too is banished from those bright abodes : Jar 
the people that dwell there shall be all righteous. 
No more shall the body of sin, and power of in- 
dwelling corruptions, fetch the deep groan from the 
bottom of the heart. That root of bitterness which 
hereaway was left, with bands of iron and brass, is 
quite extirpated. No more shall Jacob and Esau 
struggle in the womb of the sanctified ones, nor the 
law in the members war against the law of the mindo 
It is true, the militant graces shall resign, when 
every enemy lies prostrate on the field. Victorious 
faith and hope now enter into rest. But charity 
never faileth. Charity, which is the fulfilling of the 
law, shall bum in purest flames for ever and ever. 
Happy, thrice happy they, who have attained this 
holy perfection. Your harps shall be always tuned, 
and your garments always white. Now are ye eased 
of your greatest burderi|and rescued from the hands 
of your dreadest foe. No more shall wandering 
thoughts annoy your heart, nor idle words flow from 
your tongue. While we, alas ! must sore complain of 
vanity, perverseness, and disorder in the mind, will,, 
and affection. 

Neither shall there be any more pain ; for sorrow 
shall be turned into joy. (3 ye that rejoice in God 
above all, and in Christ Jesus with joy unspeakable, 
though now you see him not ; how shall you be 
comforted when you shall behold his face in righ- 
teousness, wearmg sweet smiles ! Will it not be good 
for you to be with him, who died for you ; with him 
where he is, that you may behold his glory? Then, 
shall you see those hands and feet that were pierced, 
that side which was wounded, that head which wore 
the thorny crown. Is this the man who groaned and 
died in Calvary for me ! who dexcended into the 
grave for me [ Yes ; this is the man, the Godman, 
Jesus the same to day, yesterday, and forever. No 
flight of years shall dissolve the misterious union ok' 
his humanity >Yith the divine Person of the eternal 
Son. 



324 ^N THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. 

All their sprijngs of consolation are derived from 
this fountain of living waters ; yet are there other 
considerations in which they shall rejoice, though 
with inferior delight. Then shall they come to you, 
ye innumerable company of angels, nor be startled 
at familiar interviews with you, though disembodied 
creatures, as they were in their mortal state. Here 
you were the spectators of their conflicts, and the 
guardians of their virtues; then shall ye betheasso- 
dates of their bliss. 

O comfortable society ! Then too shall we coipe 
to the general assembly and church of the first-born « 
Those who have lived in distant periods of the world, 
shall meet in one congregation. The inhabitants of 
distant regions shall be there; those who dwelt in 
Britain and Judea. O large communion ! which no 
distance of time, no length of sea or land, shall con- 
fine, no animosity shall interrupt, world without end. 
There our grand parents eat the tree of life, no 
flaming sword forbidding all access. The patriarchs 
shall wander no more as pilgrims and strangers, 
having found the country they desired. There shall 
we see the venerable saint, whose faith enabled him 
to obey, without reluctance, the most difficult pre- 
cept that ever was given ; and him, whose invincible 
patience triumphed over the greatest load of ca- 
la!iiities There shall we see the prophets who fore- 
told, and the apostles who published the power and 
coming of his Majesty ; and all the goodly company, 
who loved not their hves unto the death, but ren- 
dered their lives, by cruel tortures, for the love of 
the truth. How frequently is that complaint of the 
prophet to be taken up in these regions of sorrow, 
** Woe is me; for I am as when they gather the 
summer fruits, and there is no cluster to eat ; the 
good man is perished out of the land !" but no sinner 
shall be there, no deceitful hypocrite in all the fair 
association. 

Nor will they be insensible of joy from the glories 
of that delightful place where they shall dwell. O 
the novelty, the beauty, the grandeur of the heaven 
of heavens, the house not made with hands, the city 
that hath foundations, infinitely surpassing the tem- 
ple of Solomon, and the city cf David ! Beautiful was 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. 325 

the earthly paradise, and beautiful the eartVily Ca- 
naan ; yea, beautiful is this habitable earth, where 
many of the enemies to God reside. What then 
must be the heavenly paradise, the heavenly Ca- 
naan, which God hath prepared for them that love 
him! 

And O with what fair bodies shall they be clothed, 
who have put on immortality ! the inhabitants of that 
land shall not say, I am sick; but their counte- 
nance shall smile with rosy celestial youth for ever- 
more. 

The hell they have avoided will accent their songs 
of salvation ; and the world they have escaped will 
serve as a foil to their bliss. Thus it enhanced the 
miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, to see from 
the safe shore the wretched Egyptians tumbling in 
the ocean ; and as the waste and howling wilderness 
gave additional charms to the land that flowed with 
milk and honey. 

Nor will you be inactive through long eternity. 
You rest not day nor night; yet shall you be 
strangers to weariness and fatigue. To praise him 
shall be your element ; to teach the arches of your 
lofty palaces to resound with the name of him you 
loved, will be your delightful employment, while 
ages roll away. 

For, O eternity ! eternity ! it is thine to crown the 
joys above. Thou art the knot which bindest the 
bundle of life together. Without the thought of thee, 
dim sadness would not spare the faces of the blessed, 
their songs would be marred with dreadful discor- 
dance, and all the blissful bowers would lose their 
charms. 



FINIS. 



E e 



CONTENTS. 



•00000' 



BOOK I.^ ^Typical Persons. 

Pagft 

I. Christ and Adam compared, -^ - 1^ 

II. The history of Noah, - - - 19 

III. The history of Melchizedec, - - 24 

IV. The history of Isaac, - - - 28 
V. The history of Jacob, - - - 36 

VI. The history of Joseph, - . - 43 

Vn. The history of Moses, - - - 49 

VUI. The ordinance of the priesthood, - 54 

IX. The history of Joshua, - - - 61 

X. The history of Samson, - - - 66 

XI. The history of David, - - - 71 

XII. The history of Solomon, - -76 

XIII. The history of Jonah, - - - 81 



BOOK II. ^TxpiCAL Thinqs. 

I. The vision of Jacob's ladder, - - 87 

II. The vision of the burning bush, - 91 

III. The pillar of cloud and fire, - - 96 

IV. The manna in the wilderness, - - 101 
V. The rock in the wilderness, - - 107 

VI. The brazen serpent, - - - 113 

VII, Thoughts on the vail of ^oses, - - 119 

Vm. Of sacrifices, - - - - 125 

IX. The ordinance of the passover, - - 134 

X. The ordinance of the scape-goat, - 13.8 

XI, The ordinance of the red heifer, - - 144 

XII. The ordinance of the year of jubilee, - 150 

Xni. The law of the leper, - - - 156 

XIV. The law of the near kinsman, - - 165 

XV. The holy nation of Israel, - - - 169 

XVI. The victory over the nations of Canaan, 174 

XVII. The allegory of Hagar and Sarah, - 1 77 



52S CONTENTS. 



^--^M 



BOOK III.- ^Typical Pxaces. 

Page' 

I. The law of the cities of refuge, - - 183 

n. The tabernacle in the wilderness, - 189 

in. The temple of Solomon, - - - 197 

1. The ordinance of the ark and mercy^seat, 200 

2. The ordinance of the golden table, - 205 

3. The ordinance of the golden candlestick, 208 

4. The ordmance of the golden altar, - 211 

5. The ordinance of the brazen altar, - 214 

6. The ordinance of the brazen laver, - 217 

7. The ordinance ot the anointing oil, - 219 
IV. The land of Canaan, - - - 223 
, V. The holy city of Jerusalem, and the holy hill 

ofZion, - - - . 227 

1. The feast of tabernacles, - - 230 

2. The fast of anniversary atonement, - 235 

3. The feast of first-fruits and of Pentecost, - 240 

4. The feast of the new moon, - - 244 

5. The metaphorical priesthood of all Christians, 247 

An Evangelical history of the birth, life, death, 
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the true 
Messiah, in whom all the types of the Old Testa- 
ment are fulfilled, - - . . 251 



THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 

On sin, 265 On man's misery by sin» 268 On the 

misery of the wicked, 272 On forgiveness, 276 On 

faith, 279 On trusting in God, 283 On trusting in 

Christ, 285 On holiness, 287 Christ compared to 

the sun, 290 Christ the saint's pattern, 294 On the 

excellency of Christianity, 297 On prudence, 300 

On diligence, 302 On contempt of the world, 304— — 

On the improvement of time, 307 — —On death, 309 — r- 
On the resurrection, 313 On the resurrection and judg- 
ment, 316 On the misery of the damned, 318— —Or. 

the happiness of heaven, 32 L 



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